Court allows limited probe into missing WhiteHouse documents
 
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:05:52 -0600 (CST)



http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/02/federal-judge-allows-limited-probe-into.php

PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST  =-- Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Federal judge allows limited probe into White House office in missing 
e-mails case

[JURIST]  A  federal  judge  on  Monday  issued  an  order 
[<http://www.citizensforethics.org/files/Feb%2011%202008%20Court%20Order.pdf] 
permitting  the  government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and 
Ethics  in  Washington (CREW <http://www.citizensforethics.org/>)  to 
conduct "very limited"  discovery  in  its  case  against  the White House 
Office of Administration  (http://www.whitehouse.gov/oa/) the government 
office that provides  administrative  services  to  the  Executive  Office 
of the President.  CREW  filed  a  lawsuit  [complaint, 
<http://www.citizensforethics.org/files/052207%20-%20OA%20Complaint.pdf> 
against the OA last May under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to 
force the OA to respond to CREW's FOIA request for "documents relating to 
the loss of email records of the Executive Office of the President from 
EOP-managed  email  systems and environments." Though the OA has responded 
to  FOIA requests in the past, the administration argued in this  case 
that  the  OA  is  not an agency under the meaning of FOIA [JURIST 
report]  and  that  it  is  not  independent of the executive branch.  On 
Monday, US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly permitted CREW  to 
conduct "very limited" discovery on the issue of whether the OA  is 
subject  to  FOIA.  The parties will submit discovery plans by February 
21.

The   issue  of  missing  e-mails  has  been  an  ongoing  controversy 
throughout  the Bush administration, arising first during the CIA leak 
investigation <http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/currentawareness/cialeak.php> 
and again during the US Attorney firing scandal [JURIST news  archives]. 
Last Tuesday, CREW urged US Attorney General Michael Mukasey  to  appoint 
a special counsel [JURIST report] to investigate whether  the  White House 
had violated the Federal Records Act 
<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/44/usc_sup_01_44_10_31.html> and the 
Presidential  Records  Act 
[<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/44/ch22.html>] in failing to preserve 
millions of missing  White  House  e-mails.  CREW  has publicly alleged 
that White House  officials  may  have  deliberately lost or tampered with 
e-mail records to hide illegal conduct.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080212/ap_on_go_pr_wh/white_house_e_mail

Judge OKs inquiry of White House techs

WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge agreed Monday to allow a private group 
to delve into the operations of an office at the White House as part of a 
controversy over whether large amounts of e-mail have disappeared.

Permitting  any  private  organization  to  inquire  into  White House 
functions  is  an  unusual  step,  a point U.S. District Judge Colleen 
Kollar-Kotelly underscored in her six-page order.

The  judge  said she will allow Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in 
Washington  to  gather a "very limited" amount of information from the 
White  House  Office  of  Administration,  which  is in charge of 
preserving e-mail.

The  issue  for Kollar-Kotelly is whether the Office of Administration 
operates  with  substantial  independent authority. If the judge finds 
that  it does, the private group can pursue data about what went wrong 
with the White House e-mail system.

If  the  judge  decides  that  the  office's  functions are limited to 
serving the president, she likely will dismiss the suit.

Kollar-Kotelly  rejected a proposal by the Office of Administration to 
provide  a written description of its functions, saying CREW should be 
allowed to conduct evidence-gathering over the next 45 days.

The  White  House  is required to retain electronic messages under the 
President Records Act and the Federal Records Act.

The citizens group says more than 10 million e-mails were not properly 
retained  and  recently called for a criminal investigation. The White 
House says there is no evidence that e-mail is missing.

CREW  sued the Office of Administration last year under the Freedom of 
Information  Act,  seeking  records about White House e-mail problems. The 
White  House  says the Office of Administration is not subject to the 
public records law and that CREW's lawsuit should be dismissed.

The  Office of Administration, along with the Office of Management and 
Budget  and  other  White  House  units  with  substantial independent 
authority, regularly provided records under the Freedom of Information Act 
in the past.

The  White  House's e-mail problems were first publicly disclosed more 
than two years ago by the special prosecutor in the CIA leak probe.