Reply #226: allspinzone.com: Today’s Lost News - DNC -v- DOJ Re: FOIA

[L. Coyote]

Today’s Lost News - DNC -v- DOJ Re: FOIA
http://allspinzone.com/wp/2007/04/19/todays-lost-news /

With Abu Al and the hyper-extended coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy sucking all of the oxygen out of the mediasphere this week, you can be excused if you missed some important stories because they were buried. Here are two of them:

DNC -v- DOJ Re: FOIA

Today, the Democratic National Committee sued the Department of Justice for not complying with a FOIA request. What was the DNC asking for? Any emails that flowed between RNC-based internet domains (gwb43.com, etc.) and the Department of Justice, specifically on the topic of the U.S. attorney firings. This might not seem like a big deal, but it’s significant, in as much as the request is an end around the White House being the gatekeeper for similar emails that House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers has requested.

Conyers has not yet subpoenaed the emails, though that may yet come. More importantly, the DNC suit opens up a can of worms for DOJ on several fronts. Any claims of privilage by the White House pretty much go out the window for these particular emails, given the source and/or recipient. The DNC had requested FOIA disclosure of the documents back in March, and the DOJ had, by law, 20 days to acknowlege receipt of the request. They didn’t. And now, the DNC is suing to expedite release of the emails because of the failure to comply with FOIA regulations by the DOJ.

This story might seem inconsequential, but it’s not, because it’s a nice little play to ultimately force the White House’s hand and to force the RNC (and White House) out of the legal delaying tactics currently being employed by the RNC.

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