Fitzgerald discloses White House recently turned over 250 pages of emails in CIA leak inquiry

John Byrne
Published: February 24, 2006

Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a court hearing Friday that the White House "recently located and turned over" 250 pages of emails from the Office of Vice President Dick Cheney, according to an article filed by the Associated Press Friday evening.

The AP article focused primarily on the fact that U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton told Vice President's former chief of staff I. Lewis Libby that he was not entitled to know the name of the individual who "outed" CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson.

Libby was told, however, that he could have copies of notes he took during 2003 and 2004 while he served as Cheney's chief of staff.

The AP mentions little more than the fact that 250 pages of emails were turned over by the Vice President's office and does not indicate when. The White House was enjoined to preserve and turn over all correspondence relating to the inquiry when it began in 2003.

In October 2003, then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales told all White House employees to turn in copies of numerous documents relating to the CIA leak investigation. It was sent after the Justice Department told the White House to hand over all records that could be relevant to investigators. According to an article at the time, the deadline was Oct. 10, 2003.

The newly-turned over emails could indicate that not all information had been divulged when the Justice Department first required the information be delivered. It could, however, also signify that Fitzgerald is seeking additional email correspondence based on information he obtained during the probe.

In a letter to Libby's lawyers last month, Fitzgerald signaled that not all emails during the period in question were properly archived -- indicating that some documents may have been lost.

LINK