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(Photo by down the waterfall.)

Of course, I had read the AP wire story regarding the RNC and WH's loss of a number of e-mails: (via TPM)

The White House said Wednesday it had mishandled Republican Party-sponsored e-mail accounts used by nearly two dozen presidential aides, resulting in the loss of an undetermined number of e-mails concerning official White House business.

Congressional investigators looking into the administration's firing of eight federal prosecutors already had the nongovernmental e-mail accounts in their sights because some White House aides used them to help plan the U.S. attorneys' ouster. Democrats were questioning whether the use of the GOP-provided e-mail accounts was proof that the firings were political.

Which makes it all the more curious that the AP wire story which was written for broadcast news feed had absolutely NOTHING about lost or deleted or purged or what-have-you e-mails by and between the White House and the RNC. Meaning, unless some enterprising copy writer at a television news studio was paying attention and already knew that there were missing e-mails -- they would have NO IDEA that was even a question. To wit, here is the entire broadcast wire story, sent to me by an astonished reader:

AP-Prosecutors-White House
Congressional investigators probe why White House aides used
GOP-sponsored e-mail
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional investigators already know White House aides planned the ouster of eight federal prosecutors. Now, they want to know why the aides used G-O-P-sponsored e-mail accounts to do so.

Lawmakers are questioning whether the use of such e-mail accounts is proof that the firings were political. They're also wondering if the White House used the e-mails to get around a law requiring presidential records to be preserved and eventually disclosed.

The White House says there's no attempt to hide anything. A spokesman says the accounts were set up to avoid violating the Hatch Act. It bars federal employees from engaging in political activities with government resources or on government time. The administration says it will give investigators any exchanges between staffers and people outside the White House, but not internal communications.

So, why the omission of this vital piece of information from the original story? Sorry, but wasn't that a huge part of the initial article -- the fact that the RNC and the White House just...deleted...a whole bunch of e-mails that were potentially relevant to an ongoing Congressional investigation? As the reader who sent this said:

What missing emails? TPM posted their link at 7:33pm et, linking to the print AP version, time posted unknown. The broadcast version appeared at 8:11 et, with zero mention of missing emails. If you don't see this story on your local station tomorrow, this may be one reason why.

Who knows, maybe this will actually be big enough in the papers that the networks will have to pay attention.

I understand we are living in an age of "soundbite journalism," but shouldn't the sound bites include the portion of the story that is the big news?  Why is the AP trying to erase the missing White House and RNC e-mails?  Talk about burying the lede -- AP is making it disappear altogether for broadcast news.  The question is: why?

UPDATE:  NPR reported this morning that there were at least 22 people in the Bush WH who were using RNC-issued laptops and e-mail accounts for official business, and that a number of e-mails related to the USAtty firings were, indeed, among those missing/deleted.  The Senate Judiciary Committee will be voting on subpoenas today during a business meeting which will begin at 10:00 am ET.  This is shaping up to be an awfully interesting day.