Thomas Daschle: “Finally, I will talk about our grave concern with regard to the ongoing investigation in the Department of Justice with…”

“Finally, I will talk about our grave concern with regard to the ongoing investigation in the Department of Justice with regard to the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame. In a letter to the administration, we have noted they need to address five specific missteps we think directly hinder and perhaps may adversely affect the outcome of this investigation. First, the Department of Justice commenced this investigation on Friday, September 26, but did not ask the White House to preserve all relevant evidence until September 29. No one knows why. For those 4 days, the investigation went on without any formal request of the White House or anybody else to preserve all relevant documents. Second, after the request, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales asked for yet another delay, until the following day, before any of the relevant evidence would have to be provided. This is a significant departure from standard practice and, again, mysteriously inexplicable. Third, no request was made of State and Defense Department agencies until October 1, almost a week following the request made of the White House. Again, that is completely inexplicable. What is even more troubling is that the Wall Street Journal reported that a request would be made to the Department of Defense and the State Department the very day it was done, again tipping off all of those who may have had some reason to destroy evidence.”