GONZALES GAVE WH 12 HOURS TO SHRED DOCUMENTS:


Gonzales Says He Told Card About CIA Probe
Sunday July 24, 2005 9:16 PM

By NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Sunday that he notified White House chief of staff Andy Card after the Justice Department opened an investigation into who revealed a covert CIA officer's identity, but waited 12 hours to tell anyone else in the executive mansion.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions Sunday about whether Card passed that information to top Bush aide Karl Rove or anyone else, giving them advance notice to prepare for the investigation.
Gonzales was White House counsel on Sept. 29, 2003, and got the first official word inside the White House when the Justice Department opened its inquiry. Earlier that day, White House press secretary Scott McClellan had said the leak was a serious matter the Justice Department should pursue ``to the fullest extent.'' McClellan also said it was ``ridiculous'' to suggest Rove, Bush's top political operative, was involved...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5163889,00.html?gusrc=ticker-103704
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Bush Aide Learned Early of Leaks Probe

By Dafna LinzerWashington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 25, 2005; Page A02

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said yesterday that he spoke with White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. immediately after learning that the Justice Department had launched a criminal investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity. But Gonzales, who was White House counsel at the time, waited 12 hours before officially notifying the rest of the staff of the inquiry...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/24/AR2005072401058.html
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From Yesterday's FACE THE NATION:

SCHIEFFER: Let me just ask you the obvious question, Mr. Attorney General. Did you tell anybody at the White House, get ready for this, here it comes?
GONZALES: I, I told one person, ah, in, in the White House of, of the notification, and, and —
SCHIEFFER: Who?
GONZALES: and immediately — ah, I told the chief of staff. And immediately the next morning, I told the President and, shortly thereafter, there was a notification sent out to all the members of the White House staff.
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