White House Wants To See RNC Emails First

By Cernig

The White House is demanding that they vet RNC emails before they are turned over to Congress, according to TPM Muckraker.

The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), wants to get its hands on those RNC-issued email accounts used by Karl Rove and other White House personnel. Congressional investigators want to know about Rove's and his deputy's involvement in the U.S. attorney firings. But the White House insists that it review the emails first, before handing anything over to Democrats. Last week, Conyers warned the RNC not to do that, saying that it would be "an unjustified delay" and "potentially... an obstruction of our investigation."

And today, in a letter to the RNC, the White House made their position clear: you have to give them to us first. There "exists a clear and indisputable Executive Branch interest" in the emails on the RNC-issued accounts, wrote Emmet Flood, Special Counsel to the President.

There's an obvious point to be made - if you wanted to claim "executive" privilege interest" (and where's the basis for that in law?) then you shouldn't have circumvented White House records procedures by going outside the government system in the first place. The RNC is not an integral part of the White House or of federal government no matter how much you may wish it so.

But this one is going to end up with the Supremes, I just know it.