DOJ FINDS ONLY ONE E-MAIL FROM KARL ROVE ON U.S. ATTORNEY-GATE

I can't believe that the Department of Justice refuses to turn over to the Senate Judiciary Committee more than one e-mail from Karl Rove regarding the firing of the nine U.S. attorneys.

Paul Kane writes today in the Washington Post:

"The Justice Department told Congress yesterday that a search of e-mails sent over 2 1/2 years turned up a single message in which the department's senior officials communicated with White House adviser Karl Rove about the dismissals of nine U.S. attorneys last year.

"In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), a senior Justice official said the department scoured its computers in response to a subpoena and found just the single e-mail chain written earlier this year. It already had been released publicly.

"The possibility that Rove had a role in the removal of the U.S. attorneys has become a central issue in Congress's investigation."

The DOJ can find but a single e-mail? This is preposterous and clearly a case of refusing to turn over documents requested by a Congressional committee. Destruction or concealment of documents is a serious offense when the subject of a court order or request by a panel of Congress.

The response of the DOJ is reminiscent of Nixon refusing to turn over tapes of White House conversations involving the Watergate burglary. Things can only get worse for Bush & Co. and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as this matter develops.