Jump to full article: Tobacco On Trial, 2007-03-23
Intro: Below is the full text of:
1. Rep. Waxman's 3/22/07 Letter to Attorney General Gonzales, as posted on the House Oversight Committee website
http://oversight.house.gov/Documents/20070322152608-58148.pdf
2. Justice Department Emails from June 8, 2005, as posted on the House Oversight Committee website
http://oversight.house.gov/Documents/20070322155525-87147.pdf . . .
Ms. Eubanks has also indicated to my staff that she had concerns about the role that White House ofEcials may have played in the case. She provided emails to the Committee indicating that the White House reviewed the Department's public response in June 2005 to allegations of political interference in the litigation. According to these emails, the Justice Department was directed to "hold up" sending an op-ed to USA Today explaining the Justice Department's position because "the White House wanted some changes."' 2
A revised draft was prepared within a half hour of the White House objections. The revised draft made a number of changes to the op-ed, including inserting as the lead sentence of the op-ed: "President Bush and his Administration have proven time and again a strong commitment to holding the tobacco indushy accountable for past fraud and abuse." 3 According to a subsequent email, the White House said this version was "good to go." 4
To assist the Committee's inquiry into whether there was political interference in the tobacco litigation, please provide the Committee with the following documents for the time frame from January 20, 2001 to the present:
(1) All communications between the White House and the Department of Justice related to the Department's suit against the tobacco industry, U.S. v. Philip Morris;
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