Shirley Sherrod (Creative Commons)

Friday's release of more than 800 pages of e-mails concerning Sherrod's firing reveals that members of the Obama administration knew they did not have all the details behind the story when they chose to remove the Department of Agriculture official from her position.

Sherrod was pushed to resign after an edited video clip of her remarks at a NAACP conference in March went viral and sparked controversy.

In the edited clip, which was released by conservative blogger and publisher Andrew Breitbart, Sherrod makes seemingly racist comments about a white farmer for whom she worked. But put in context, the anecdote was one of overcoming racist sentiments.

The e-mails show that USDA officials including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack knew they had not seen the entire video clip when Sherrod was fired but chose to act anyway. Subsequent e-mails praised Vilsack's quick action in pressing Sherrod to resign and acknowledged the hope of avoiding the news cycle.

From the L.A. Times:

"Just wanted you to know that this dismissal came up at our morning senior staff meeting today," Christopher Lu, who serves as Obama's liaison to the Cabinet, wrote to top Agriculture officials early July 20, the morning after Sherrod was ousted. "Everyone complimented USDA on how quickly you took this action," he wrote, adding that it would stop an "unpleasant story" from getting "traction." "Thanks for the great efforts."

The e-mails were forwarded around the department and both the video clip and Sherrod were discussed.

One of Vilsack's aides wrote that the secretary was "absolutely sick and mad over the S Sherrod issue" and wanted her fired.

"I feel so disappointed that the secretary and the president let a misrepresentation of my words on the part of the tea party be the reason to ask me to resign," Sherrod wrote in her letter of resignation. "Please look at the tape and see that I use the story from 1986 to show people that the issue is not about race but about those who have versus those who do not."

An e-mail following Sherrod's resignation to Deputy Undersecretary Cheryl Cook, who had asked Sherrod to resign, shows that the officials did not attempt to obtain a full copy of the video.

When Sherrod went on national TV to explain the situation and describe the story she told in the speech, the tide turned. The NAACP released the full video and Vilsack (and Obama) would end up apologizing and offering Sherrod a new position.

"It was a decision I regret having made in haste," Vilsack said.

To reach editor-in-chief Callie Schweitzer, click here.

To follow her on Twitter: @cschweitz

Sign up for Neon Tommy's weekly e-mail newsletter.