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it’s the law…

Posted on Wednesday 5 September 2007


Talk about a windfall. From a press release sent out today by the National Security Archive, a nongovernmental outfit:

The National Security Archive today sued the White House seeking the recovery and preservation of more than 5 million White House e-mail messages that were apparently deleted from White House computers between March 2003 and October 2005.

The lawsuit filed this morning in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia names as defendants the Executive Office of the President and its components that are subject to the Federal Records Act, including the White House Office of Administration (OA), and the National Archives and Records Administration (which is responsible for long-term preservation of federal and presidential records), under the records laws and the Administrative Procedure Act.
…
"The Bush White House broke the law and erased our history by deleting those e–ail messages," said National Security Archive director Tom Blanton. "The period of the missing email starts with the invasion of Iraq and runs through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina."
Thanks to David Corn for this report. As funny as the White House Web Site scrubbing is, there’s nothing humorous about this issue. Nothing funny at all. The Bush White House is interpreting the Freedom of Information Act, the Presidential Records Act, and Executive Privilege in some kind of broadstroke that comes down to them saying that they are immune to any investigation for any reason. While a lot of their arguments would lead to some kind of adjudication in a series of courts, it seems to me that the email question is different. The Presidential Records Act is clear. It says that Presidential Records must be preserved. In the case of these emails, they’re saying that they’ve been destroyed. In addition, it’s equally clear that a lot of the President and White House business was conducted using alternative [Republican National Committee] email servers, and those emails have been destroyed as well. In addition, both the RNC and the White House Office of Administration have not allowed any investigation of how this happened.

They have the right to argue in a courtroom about what information to release. I see no way they have the right to destroy Presidential records, or if they claim they were "lost," to block any investigation of how that happened. So, good for C.R.E.W. and the National Security Archive for pursuing this. But this is breaking the law – something the Department of Justice should be looking into, appointing a Special Prosecutor to investigate, following the procedures we have for investigating whether the laws of the land have been broken. The Presidential Records Act is not open for interpretation. It’s the Law…

  1.  
    joyhollywood
    September 6, 2007 | 5:28 AM
     

    I tried to email you Gail Collins column today but it didn’t work. She talks about needing a president who can tell the difference from truth or fiction. How in Draper’s book, Bush still believed in 2006 that Saadam had WMDs.

  2.  
    joyhollywood
    September 6, 2007 | 5:37 AM
     

    I just read the Washington Post and in the op-ed section former Secretary of State in the Clinton administration Madeline Albright has a fantastic piece. I hope the Bush team takes some of her suggestions on Iraq.

  3.  
    Smoooochie
    September 6, 2007 | 9:45 AM
     

    It’s absurd that a private agency has to do what the DOJ should be doing. I’m glad they are taking the lead though, because this is government for and by the people in action. If the government won’t do it’s job them by god we will!!

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