Ashcroft's memo. Part 2.

From The Next Hurrah:

Remember back when Senator Whitehouse demonstrated how many more channels there were for people in the White House to interfere in ongoing investigations?

Well, he's back at it today. And he revealed that not only is the structure that John Ashcroft set up still in place (which open the floodgates to the White House), but he revealed that in a memo written by Gonzales, he further opened those floodgates to the Vice President as well.

The exchange started with Whitehouse getting Gonzales to agree that the most likely avenue of improper influence in ongoing investigations was the White House (these are all my transcriptions).

Whitehouse White House where improper influence is coming from
AGAG A key
Whitehouse They key
AGAG The key

Then he goes on to review a memo that Gonzales himself signed, actually extending the structure Ashcroft set in place. And while Ashcroft's memo made several attempts to tamp down this structure, in key ways he opened it up, explicitly for the Fourth Branch. Whitehouse describes how the memo describes that the lines of communication open to the White House will "apply in parallel fashion in communications with the OVP." And then he points specifically to a paragraph at the end of the memo reiterating the communications open to OVP. Gonzales, typically, claims to have no idea how those items got into a memo he signed personally.

Whitehouse: What on earth business does the OVP wrt ongoing investigations at DOJ.
AGAG: Good question.
Whitehouse: Why is it here then. I'd like to know how that addition was made. Once again, final paragraph, set off by asterisks, that undermines everything set out in previous paragraphs. President, VP, then you add their Chiefs of Staff, Counsel to the President, or Vice President.

Somebody took the trouble to write in Counsel to VP and give them access to ongoing investigations.

AGAG: I don't know if that has happened.
Whitehouse: Part of what we try to do is prevent things from happening. Let me continue, what was staff of President has become staff of White House office and entire staff of OMB has been thrown in. So you come here today with, I think, highly diminished credibility, asserting you want to restore the DOJ, and yet, here, where there is something you could do about it, since our past discussion, nothing has been done. The memo that has your signature makes it worse. And we agree that this connection between WH and DOJ is the most troubling one for improper influence. How can we take you seriously about your promises about cleaning up the mess you've made.

Gonzales can offer nothing more than an explanation that he continues to study why Ashcroft made the change, and that he has no idea how the changes got into the memo that he himself signed.

AGAG: I have directed my staff to try to understand the genesis of the Ashcroft memo. We tried to understand the basis of the change. We have been looking at this issue. WRT this memo, I'd have to look at it, I'd be concerned about inappropriate access to ongoing investigations.