Putting out a fire with gasoline

Lest you think that Yellow Dog gets all the fun because she gets to write about Kentucky politics, we Missourians can give just about any state a run for the money when it comes to mendacious polecats in the GOP.

It would have been a sight to behold, and I wish I had seen it...

On Veterans Day, Matty B came to KC to the world headquarters of the VFW for the obligatory medal ceremony that happens every November, and after the event, three KC Star reporters tried to get an answer from Baby Guv about the brewing email scandal in Jefferson City. He quite literally broke into a run to get away from the likes of Kit Wagar, Steve Kraske and Dave Helling.

As the reporters closed in, a security guard (who looks disturbingly like that guy on Springer) shoved Wagar, who was pushed back into Kraske, who was knocked back into Helling - who is a pretty big guy, so presumably he didn't go anywhere. But Kraske was suddenly faced with having to acknowledge that there is indeed a story there, and he should prolly say sumthin' about it, and damnit to hell, thats gonna deal a setback to his secret desire to be Matty B's next press secretary...But Helling had that damnable camera of his running, and the video was all over the interwebs an hour later...

For those unfamiliar with Missouri's latest gubernatorial malfeasance, it's a potboiler.

[keep reading]



It all started a few weeks ago when Tony Messenger, political reporter for the Springfield News-Leader came into possession of an email from Blunt chief-of-staff Ed Martin that indicated Martin was performing political work from his state-funded office, and that is a violation of ethics rules. Messenger started asking questions of the governors office, and under the states Sunshine Law, he asked to see other emails like it. He was told that other emails didn't exist because Martin and other officials in the Blunt administration routinely deleted emails, which violates violates public records rules that mandate openness and transparency, and to that end, email retention.

Well, the governors office went into full freak-out mode and proceeded to compound their troubles exponentially. They denied they were aware of the policy on email retention - but the AP soon turned up with an email from a lawyer who served in the Blunt administration who said he had advised the governors staff to stop deleting email.

And here is where it gets really weird and the hubris becomes palpable. Scott Eckersley, the attorney who gave the administration the advice they didn't want to hear was fired and slandered and had his character and his ethics challenged; and Eckersley, a devout Mormon, was accused of getting porn emails at his state email address. (Don't we all get offers for penis enlargement, and gender is no deterrent?)

The issue has consumed a tremendous amount of newsprint all over the state, and it has been scathing of Blunt and Martin, and sympathetic to Eckersley. And two weeks in to the whole fiasco, the Blunt administration cut off their nose to spite their face. The administration filed a complaint with the state bar association, claiming that Eckersley violated the confidentiality he owed the governor as his attorney when he talked to the press. The complaint is tacit acknowledgment that Eckersley did indeed advise the governor and his staff to stop deleting emails.

And by Thursday of last week, baby guv had unveiled a new plan to archive every single email that is sent or received on state computers, because he wants to "avoid confusion" - except his staff seems to be the only folks who are afflicted by confusion. But that didn't stop him from blaming Jay Nixon, the current Attorney General. Blunt, in a stunning display of audacious gall, said his new scheme would "prevent what has happened in Attorney General Nixon's office, where the spokesperson said that e-mails are routinely deleted." Nixon, as every Missourian knows, is challenging Blunt in next years governors race, and in the words of Hotflash, my good friend and fellow co-blogger at Show Me Progress (and by the way, she has been absolutely tireless on this issue) Blunt isn't just going to lose next fall. He is going to get demolished.

There's more: "Putting out a fire with gasoline" >>

Pentagon Email System Hacked, 1500 Users Off Line

If you have ever wondered if the systematic and massive violation of the Presidential Records Act was the the only thing wrong with Karl Rove and 87 other White House officials using the RNC as their email provider, consider this story. This morning it is being reported that the pentagon's email system has been hacked. News.com.au reports

A HACKER penetrated an unclassified Pentagon email system, prompting authorities to take as many 1500 accounts off-line, defence officials said overnight.

"All precautionary measures are being taken and we expect this system to be on-line again very soon," said Colonel Gary Keck, a Pentagon spokesman.

He said the penetration was detected yesterday in the unclassified email system of the office of the secretary of defence, which employs thousands of people.

Between 1000 and 1500 users of the system were taken off-line, a defence official said.

The Pentagon spokesman was quick to assure the public that it "aggressively monitors its networks for intrusions and has appropriate procedures to address events of this nature." I am sure the spokesman is right. Now tell me the RNC is just as aggressive in defending it's email system.

If you want additional details follow this link to an AP story and this link to RawStory.

There's more: "Pentagon Email System Hacked, 1500 Users Off Line" >>

CREW Asks Patrick Fitzgerald to Reopen The Plame Case

CREW has written Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald asking him to reopen the Valerie Plame investigation. CREW notes that:

Press reports indicate that Mr. Rove uses a Republican National Committee (RNC) email account for 95% of his communications. In addition, the RNC's counsel has admitted that all of Mr. Rove's emails prior to 2005 have been destroyed. Moreover, the White House has admitted that - as CREW reported yesterday - five million emails are missing from the White House servers. All of this raises serious questions about whether Mr. Rove knowingly destroyed evidence relevant to the Special Counsel's inquiry and whether Mr. Fitzgerald received all relevant documents.

Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director, said today, "It looks like Karl Rove may well have destroyed evidence that implicated him in the White House's orchestrated efforts to leak Valerie Plame Wilson's covert identity to the press in retaliation against her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson." Sloan continued, "Special Counsel Fitzgerald should immediately reopen his investigation into whether Rove took part in the leak as well as whether he obstructed justice in the ensuing leak investigation."

Rawstory notes that although at the end of the Libby trial Fitzgerald said he didn't expect to take any future action he did say that if new information came to light he would engage in further investigation.

What is unknown is whether the missing emails are "new information" to Fitzgerald. According to attorney Robert Luskin Rove was under the "understanding" that all of his emails have already been preserved by Patrick Fitzgerald. The AP's Laurie Kellman reports that Luskin said, Fitzgerald "saw and copied all of Rove's e-mails from his various accounts after searching Rove's laptop, his home computer, and the handheld computer devices he used for both the White House and Republican National Committee."

Hey, Judiciary Committee Investigators, how about having a talk with Patrick Fitzgerald? All he can do is tell you he isn't going to open his file.

There's more: "CREW Asks Patrick Fitzgerald to Reopen The Plame Case" >>