Another day, another crook

The saga continues. I wake up in the morning and find that someone has turned over a new stone and found a new crook underneath:

Dear Mr. Gonzales:

By this letter, we are referring Michael Wholley, the general counsel of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), to the Department of Justice for investigation into and possible prosecution for obstruction of justice and destruction of government records under 18 U.S.C. § 1505, 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c) and 18 § U.S.C. 2071.

On May 24, 2007, Mr. Wholley testified before the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the House Science and Technology Committee that he had personally destroyed the video records of an April 10 agency meeting between NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and the staff of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) because:

[I]f they were retained and filed, they could become [government] records by virtue of that retention. From my perspective . . . I did not believe it wise to have these in any way become records, subject to release under FOIA [Freedom of Information Act]. . . . I personally made the decision to destroy them, and I did so by breaking them into pieces and throwing them in the trash.

The meeting in question was a mandatory meeting between Mr. Griffin and the staff of NASA’s OIG to discuss the corrective actions that Mr. Griffin was recommending for Robert Cobb, NASA’s inspector general. The President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) determined in January of 2007 that Mr. Cobb had abused his authority as an inspector general and lacked an appearance of independence from NASA officials. Clay Johnson, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and PCIE chairman, forwarded the report to Mr. Griffin to take corrective steps. Mr. Griffin had included the meeting in his “Letter of Instruction” to Mr. Cobb.

Mr. Wholley destroyed the CDs with full knowledge that the House Science and Technology Committee and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation were examining all aspects of the investigation into allegations against Mr. Cobb and NASA’s response to that investigation. Mr. Wholley also knew that a Congressional hearing was possible. Chairman Miller had sent a letter to Mr. Griffin requesting a copy of the PCIE report on February 23, 2007, and he received a reply on February 28. On April 2, after receiving the report, Chairman Miller and Chairman Bill Nelson of the Senate Subcommittee on Space, Aeronautics and Related Matters wrote President Bush asking for Mr. Cobb’s removal. The letter was widely publicized. On April 3, Chairmen Nelson and Miller and Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon wrote to Clay Johnson, the head of the PCIE, and said they were preparing for hearings. On April 4, Mr. Wholley wrote an email titled, “Hearings??”, to Jeff Rosen, the general counsel of OMB, discussing the need for a meeting to “soberly consider the approach to be taken” at a hearing. “I am sure that you can appreciate that I am not particularly keen on seeing two entities of the Executive Branch at odds in a hearing before the Legislative Branch,” Mr. Wholley wrote...

Thank your for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

BRAD MILLER Chairman Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight

F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR. Ranking Member Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight

So, what are the odds that someone at Gonzales' InJustice Department will actually investigate this?