Legal watchdog group demands reopening of CIA leak probe

14 Apr 2007 // With a startling revelation about some five million e-mails being missing from the White House, a legal watchdog group in the US has demanded reopening of the probe into the disclosure of Valerie Plame Wilson's status as a covert CIA operative.

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said that it has learnt about the missing e-mails from two unnamed sources and asked Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to reopen his probe on the role of Karl Rove, former Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bush.

"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," Melanie Sloan, Executive Director of CREW said.

"It's clear that the White House has been willfully violating the law, the only question now is to what extent? Sloan said.

The interest in these e-mails has hightened as press reports have indicated that Rove uses a Republican National Committee (RNC) e-mail account for 95% of his communications. In addition, the RNC's counsel has admitted that all of Rove's e-mails prior to 2005 have been destroyed.

Capitol Hill wants to get to the bottom of White House's involvement, including top aides to the President like Rove, in the firing of US Attorneys who were perceived as being "uncomfortable or not staying with the agenda." Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is under tremendous pressure to resign in the wake of the sacking of eight US Attorneys given the conflicting statements he has given on the issue.

Gonzales is appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 17.