WAXMAN: 88 WH officials used RNC e-mail, KARL ROVE = 140,216 e-mails YAOZAAAH

[L. Coyote]

Surprise: "The RNC has preserved 140,216 e-mails sent or received by Karl Rove"

OMG, now that will be a Doc Dump! Are we having fun yet?? When do we get to read them?

In addition to the Presidential Record Act, how many Hatch Act violations will there be, 75,000?

========================
Administration Oversight, White House Use of Private E-mail Accounts
The Use of RNC E-Mail Accounts by White House Officials
Monday, June 18, 2007
http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1362

The Oversight Committee has been investigating whether White House officials violated the Presidential Records Act by using e-mail accounts maintained by the Republican National Committee and the Bush Cheney ‘04 campaign for official White House communications. This interim staff report provides a summary of the evidence the Committee has received to date, along with recommendations for next steps in the investigation.

The information the Committee has received in the investigation reveals:

... White House officials given RNC e-mail accounts ... at least 88 ... RNC e-mail accounts include Karl Rove ... Andrew Card ... Ken Mehlman...

...White House officials made extensive use of their RNC e-mail accounts. The RNC has preserved 140,216 e-mails sent or received by Karl Rove. Over half of these e-mails (75,374) were sent to or received from individuals using official “.gov” e-mail accounts ... Sara Taylor (66,018 e-mails) ... Scott Jennings (35,198 e-mails). These e-mail accounts were used by White House officials for official purposes ...

... There has been extensive destruction of the e-mails of White House officials ... RNC has preserved no e-mails for 51 officials ... there are major gaps in the e-mail records of the 37 White House officials for whom the RNC did preserve e-mails ... only 130 e-mails sent to Mr. Rove during President Bush’s first term and no e-mails sent by Mr. Rove prior to November 2003 ...

... evidence that the Office of White House Counsel under Alberto Gonzales may have known ... but took no action to preserve these presidential records ...

... it is not possible to determine precisely how many presidential records may have been destroyed by the RNC ...

... the records of federal agencies should be examined to assess whether they may contain some of the White House e-mails that have been destroyed by the RNC. The Committee has already written to 25 federal agencies ... they may have preserved official communications that were destroyed by the RNC.

... the Committee should investigate what former White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales knew about the use of political e-mail accounts by White House officials. If Susan Ralston’s testimony to the Committee is accurate, there is evidence that Mr. Gonzales or counsels working in his office knew ...

... the Committee may need to issue compulsory process to obtain the cooperation of the Bush Cheney ’04 campaign ...

-------
Documents and Links

* Investigation of Possible Violations of the Presidential Records Act - http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070618105243.pdf
* Deposition of Susan Ralston - http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070618105351.pdf
* Errata Sheet for Deposition of Susan Ralston - http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070618105444.pdf

Related

* Waxman Asks Government Agencies to Preserve E-mails from RNC Accounts - http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1244
* Committee Requests White House E-mails Stored at RNC - http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1247
* Committee Directs RNC to Preserve White House Emails - http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1225

======================
On DU: DEAL OR NO DEAL? Abramoff's and Rove's ex-aide has "useful information" about Abramoff, White House
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=995236&mesg_id=995236

[aquart]

1. Take them to Guantanamo and ask them a few questions.

With water.

[musiclawyer]

2. I think Waxman is playing poker

and knows all the cards that everyone holds

[KansDem]

3. Do you think he has access to or copies of the "missing" White House emails?

I often wonder how he knows what to ask for if he didn't already have them (or copies) in his possession!

[L. Coyote]

5. Ask yourself, "Who are all the IT guys in USG?" and, did Monica hire them? NO

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

8. How does that saying go?

Oh yeah: "A lawyer should never ask a question he doesn't already know the answer for".

[burythehatchet]

14. A good lawyer never asks a question he doesn't already know the answer to. n/t

[L. Coyote]

42. Chronology = Investigations - White House Use of Private E-mail Accounts

Waxman has been one very busy Dem. No doubt, he was preparing for much of this for years.

After three congressional investigations – the investigation into Jack Abramoff’s contacts with the White House, the examination of politicization of the General Services Administration, and the investigation of the firings of eight U.S. Attorneys – brought to light the White House’s extensive use of nongovernmental e-mail accounts to conduct official business, the Committee directed the RNC and the Bush Cheney ’04 campaign to preserve e-mails to or from accounts held by White House officials.

In order to ensure compliance with both the Presidential Records Act and the Hatch Act, the Committee asked the RNC to produce e-mails that related to the use of federal agencies and federal resources for partisan political purposes. ...

Chronology:

June 18, 2007 - http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1362
The Use of RNC E-Mail Accounts by White House Officials

May 01, 2007 - http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1281
Chairman Waxman Asks the Bush Cheney Campaign for Information about White House E-mails

May 01, 2007 - http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1279
Chairman Waxman Writes RNC Chairman Mike Duncan

April 20, 2007 - http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1259
Committee to Consider Subpoena for RNC Documents Related to White House E-mails

April 18, 2007 - http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1256
Rep. Waxman Renews Request After RNC Fails to Provide Information on White House Officials’ E-mails

April 13, 2007 - http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1246
Chairman Waxman Asks RNC To Provide Production Schedule

April 12, 2007 - http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1244
Waxman Asks Government Agencies to Preserve E-mails from RNC Accounts

April 04, 2007 - http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1247
Committee Requests White House E-mails Stored at RNC

March 29, 2007 - http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1229
Rep. Waxman Requests Information on White House E-Mail Policies

March 26, 2007 - http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1225
Committee Directs RNC to Preserve White House Emails

[Glimmer of Hope]

4. There is a lot of explaining to do!

[L. Coyote]

6. Imagine the size of the Hatch Act net, with half of the Rove e-mails from dot.gov accounts

Any person (under Hatch Act jurisdiction) conducting political campaigning using a dot.gov account or any account while on duty at a USG job can lose their job or, at a minimum, be suspended for 30 days.

More on the Hatch Act issue, including some actual evidence, in this DU archived thread:

GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY. Is Everyone in the WHITE HOUSE Going to the "OUT" House?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1069515

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Betcha the Rove stack has been cleaned.

All that's left is 140,000 Viagra ads & partnership offers from Nigerian businessmen.

[L. Coyote]

9. The RNC has preserved 140,216 e-mails sent or received by Karl Rove

And, unless they want to go to jail, they have to save them.

I wonder how many of the ones they no longer have are to be found on other servers, esp. USG servers where everything is backed-up? Another 100,000?

Karl sure has been communicating a lot. And, how often do the e-mails say, "George said...."? This may be way bigger than the Nixon tapes.

[malaise]

17. KO's talking about this now: Nail them Waxman

:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

Add.

[L. Coyote]

52. Do you have a VIDEO link? Here is Waxman on YouTube proposing the subpoenas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YToR3UWjNN0

Pop lots of corn. This is serious entertaiment. :rofl:

[Jackpine Radical]

21. I wanna see them go down as hard as they deserve...

but I'll believe it when I see it.

Slimy bastards have a way of wiggling out of everything. Remember when we all thought Fitz was gonna take Rove to the mat, and maybe Cheney with him? Hasn't happened yet. It gets hard on your outlook after enough times. I keep thinking of Lucy & the football.

[malaise]

22. Yep but things are coming together

We got Scooter. This is possible.

[L. Coyote]

28. How many will be willing to cooperate when their e-mail violates a law,

either the Hatch Act or the Presidential Records Act? Not everyone is such a loyal Bushevic to be willing to destroy their career.

The net just keeps getting bigger. And the information gathered from witneses like Goodling, Ralston, Taylor, et.al, is proving useful.

[hootinholler]

10. How many of Karl's are from Etheopean officials needing assistance recovering thier just fortune and

How many are penis enlargement?

I mean if he was smart he'd have been very promiscuous with that email address to make everyone wade through the spam.

-Hoot

[L. Coyote]

12. More importantly, how many of those did he reply to.

[L. Coyote]

11. Just THINK, 160 ROVE e-mails per day of the second term. Had to do the math!

"The RNC has preserved only 130 e-mails sent to Mr. Rove during President Bush’s first term,"

Hence, there are about 160 ROVE e-mails per day of the second term. That should be insightful.

[Bucky]

46. That's assuming he works weekends, right?

I wonder if that also counts duplicates, CCs, BCCs, forwards to his secretary, assistant, baldheaded ex-marine boytoy, Fox affiliates, or other such political advisors. Certainly that's not 160 original composition emails a day. Otherwise when would he have time to relax and plan out 9/11?

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

13. I am tired of having my chain pulled,...and seeing no results other than whining,...

,...criminal assholes stopping Congress from going forward on financing this country ALL DAMNED WEEK.

I'd rather have a WAR FOR DEMOCRACY here,...than have to sit through all this enabling, harmful, murderous GOD-AWEFUL bullshit every single day.

Chickenshits versus the Chickenhawks,...as they SPEND THIS NATION AWAY.

I'm feeling kinda' "pissy",...you know.

[L. Coyote]

43. Hope you are feeling better. MSM is all over this. Times are a changin'

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

47. Not really. I mean, the House won't even hold Rice in contempt,...

,...even though SHE IS IN CONTEMPT of complying with a subpoena.

I guess I'd just prefer to save any excitement or joy for the day that Congress actually takes serious actions on these various serious matters.

[L. Coyote]

50. There is a lot going on out of public view on this and the delay in the hearing

is not without reason. In any deliberative process, things happen a step at a time. The classic scenario to consider is Watergate.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/watergate/chronology.htm
LOTS OF LINKED STORIES.

Timeline

November 5, 1968 - Nixon ... defeating Hubert Humphrey in one of the closest elections in U.S. history.... (Retrospectively, you have to wonder if it was stolen)

January 30, 1973 ...G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord Jr. are convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping ...Five other men plead guilty, but mysteries remain. ...

November 17, 1973 Nixon declares, "I'm not a crook," maintaining his innocence in the Watergate case. ...

August 8, 1974 Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to resign ...

I hope this image cheers you up. No doubt the time spans do not. Remember, there were 60 convictions.

[indepat]

15. 'puke/neocon criminality is ubiquitous/never-ending

[southern_belle]

16. Forgive me for not jumping up and

down. It's not like anything is going to HAPPEN because of this! :eyes:

[rodeodance]

19. yes, I too wonder if there will be any legal consequences???

[L. Coyote]

53. The subpoenas have begun to flow down Pennsylvania Avenue. We'll know soon enough!

[L. Coyote]

20. That's what they said about the Nixon tapes. WA POST called the first day

of the Watergate hearings "boring" and said nothing much might come out of it.
The freepers were calling John Dean a nutjob asnd a liar.
Nixon was wandering the White House corridors drunk and plotting more crimes.

And Sam Irwin was confidently and calmly saying (this one sooo bears repeating),
"If you paint a good picture of a cow, you don't have to write cow under it."

Here's what's been added to the picture, just today:

One more investigation of Gonzales, for Presidential Records Act violations and now extending into his duties at the White House.
Rove's e-mails, 160 per day, are preserved (at the RNC, where executive privilege does not apply).
Card's e-mails
Melhman's e-mails
Ralston's e-mails
Jennings' e-mails
Many others' e-mails
Numerous Hatch Act violations yet to be counted, and all those people in the net now.

Get the picture yet? To quote the WA Post, "boring" :rofl: and nothing will come of this. Right!

[malaise]

23. Remind them

Great post.

[L. Coyote]

25. Wish we had a YouTube of Sam Irwin. Here's Nixon resigning.

"I've never been a quitter ... I must put the interests of America first."

"... effective at noon tomorrow..." Sometimes shit happens fast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DYyjpcMPwU

Aug. 9, a day to celebrate.

[malaise]

29. Thanks for that n/t

[L. Coyote]

33. This is almost a deja vu time in history. Here is another good Watergate VIDEO

Almost being the keyword. When will the currenty war end?

Vietnam War Ends......The Watergate Scandal Escalates
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAJDFyxlDkk

More Watergate videos for those who wonder if the current scandals will have an effect:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=watergate&search=

[malaise]

34. Cool

Thanks. Will watch them this afternoon.

[Gabi Hayes]

45. heh....I remember it only too well. thanks for this entire thread, btw. now check this.

Joy Behar had some funny things to say about Nixon, and Newsbusters' imbecile readers had responses like this:

''I remember one thing my mother told me, and this was during the Watergate summer, and that is despite what people were saying about former Pres. Nixon, he was never a quitter, and that fact was an admiral trait, she impressed on me. Of course this is before he resigned, which at the time was good for the country. He sacrificed his goal twice for the good of the country. The same cannot be said of Democrats, who believe in personal political power above all else.''

amongst his ADMIRAL traits was that of not being a quitter, ha!

here's what prompted this:

On a day when Rosie O’Donnell was absent from ABC’s “The View,” an intelligent person would expect the discussion would be a bit more civil, right?

WRONG!

Instead, as co-host Joy Behar discussed her evening at the theatre to see the critically acclaimed “Frost/Nixon” – which she actually referred to as “Nixon/Frost” – the comedienne stated that the former president was “an orangutan who’s constipated” as well as a “paranoid drunk.”

I kid you not.

The unpleasantries commenced shortly after Behar mentioned that she had gone to “see this Nixon/Frost play” last night. Barbara Walters interjected:

Not only did I see it, but the interview that this is based on is David Frost interviewing Richard Nixon. And, by the way, Frank Langella is simply fantastic in this. But the next interview, that was an interview that was paid for. The next interview was an interview that I did with Richard Nixon live. I shouldn’t pat myself on the back, because it was a different time historically, and Richard Nixon in that interview admitted that he was sorry that he didn’t burn the tapes. And Frank Langella called me, playing Nixon, and said, “How would you describe the way Richard Nixon walked,” because I had done so many interviews with him. And I said, “He walks as if he’s constipated.” And when you see how, I thought “That’s my contribution to American culture.”

That precipitated the following:

JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST: He looks like an orangu, an orangutan who’s constipated.

KATHY GRIFFIN, COMEDIENNE: But I didn’t know that they, so a president was paid to do an interview?

BARBARA WALTERS, CO-HOST: That interview David Frost paid him, yes.

GRIFFIN: That’s like K-Fed. He’s the K-Fed of his time.

BEHAR: They paid him $200,000.

GRIFFIN: But a president?

BEHAR: Richard Nixon used to (gestures as if taking a drink).

GRIFFIN: Was he hammered when you interviewed him?

WALTERS: Hammered, you mean drunk? He was not.

BEHAR: He was a drinker.

ELISABETH HASSLEBECK, CO-HOST: Presidents make a fortune…

BEHAR: He was a paranoid drunk.

Such respect for a former president. And these people actually get paid to do this?

[L. Coyote]

51. Thanks and a Correction for The View: He was a "politically" paranoid drunk.

And, as an anthropoligist, I must object to all the negative inferences about our wonderful cousins, the orangs.
Imagine how they feel when being equated with a Homo crapula stiticotus

And, isn't the colloquialism ""...scontroso come un cinghiale stitico"? My apologies, in advance, to the bears.

[rodeodance]

18. k and REC

[progressoid]

24. Well c'mon Democrats...

Guy LeDouche says, "Let's get it on!"

[L. Coyote]

49. LEAHY: "...Taylor searching the thousands of e-mails...in accordance with a subpoena ..."

Comment Of Sen. Patrick Leahy ...
On The House Committee On Oversight And Government Reform
Report On RNC E-Mails - June 18, 2007
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200706/061807.html

“This Administration’s penchant for secrecy and disdain for oversight seems to know no bounds. It is troubling that so many senior White House officials, including Karl Rove and his former deputy Sara Taylor, were engaging in an effort to avoid oversight and accountability by ignoring the laws meant to ensure a public record of official government business. This extensive end-run around the laws leads one to wonder what these officials wanted to hide from the public and Congress.

“This report indicates that Mr. Rove and Ms. Taylor were some of the heaviest users of these RNC e-mail accounts, and both officials have been linked to a project to fire several Department of Justice prosecutors that is currently the subject of congressional investigations. Now that we know more than 100,000 of Mr. Rove’s secret e-mails have not been destroyed, I hope the White House will respond to my request for any e-mails from his account that are relevant to the Judiciary Committee’s investigation. I look forward to Ms. Taylor searching the thousands of e-mails from her account in accordance with a subpoena she was issued last week.”

=================================
Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy ...
On The Issuing Of Subpoenas In The Investigation Of The Firing Of U.S. Attorneys
June 13, 2007 - http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200706/061307a.html

Today, I am issuing on behalf of the Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenas to the White House ...

The White House cannot have it both ways -- it cannot stonewall congressional investigations by refusing to provide documents and witnesses and simultaneously claim that nothing improper occurred. The involvement of the White House’s political operation in these matters, including former Political Director Sara Taylor and her boss Karl Rove, has been confirmed by information gathered by congressional committees. Some at the White House may hope to thwart our constitutional oversight efforts by locking the doors, closing the curtains and hiding under their desks, but we will keep asking until we get to the truth.

...........

[Rosa Luxemburg]

26. we want to see the emails especially the juicy ones

[proud patriot]

27. Arrest them

:patriot:

[L. Coyote]

31. This may happen, mostly, for Hatch Act violations the minimum is a

30 day suspension. The big story within the story is Gonzales knew and did nothing about Presidential Records Act violations. This goes to conspiracy. That conspricy was evidenced in e-mails mentioning to use non-WH accounts to avoid the preserving of messages.

[lonestarnot]

30. Hey Red Rover, isn't it about time for that diet. Heh you'll have it easy with that loss of

appetite and the drizzles. :evilgrin: oink oink oink little piggy.

[L. Coyote]

32. Sara Taylor's RNC E-mail Subpoened by HOUSE committees.

From: EXIT RIGHT. Sara Taylor, WH political director, Rove Aide RESIGNS? "subpoenas for her testimony"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x990202

Just a bit of recent history of how this story developed can be found in the above thread. Here is one post, with the Committee's communication revealing the scope of the inquiry producing the new development:

----------------------------------
Sara Taylor's RNC E-mail Subpoened by HOUSE committees. Are they missing too?

"White House officials who we believe may have used RNC-affiliated e-mail accounts for these purposes are Karl Rove, J. Scott Jennings, Sara Taylor, and former White House officials Harriet Miers and Tim Griffin. But there may well be others, and we would ask that you provide them all."

April 12, 2007. Excerpts from the letter to RNC Chairman Robert M. Duncan:

..... we are therefore formally requesting that you provide promptly to our Committee all e-mail communications (including all meta-data relating to those communications) by any Government employee stored on or in any way retrievable from the RNC servers or in the possession, custody or control of the RNC, including any of its affiliated entities, that relate in any way to the recent termination of U.S. Attorneys, as well as all e-mails that relate in any way to any of the following related subjects: the performance of any U.S. Attorney; any consideration of whether to retain, dismiss, or seek the resignation of any U.S. Attorney; any candidate for possible appointment as a U.S. Attorney to replace anyone considered for termination; and any process for considering any of these subjects. Among the White House officials who we believe may have used RNC-affiliated e-mail accounts for these purposes are Karl Rove, J. Scott Jennings, Sara Taylor, and former White House officials Harriet Miers and Tim Griffin. But there may well be others, and we would ask that you provide them all.

We also request any other types of records of communications involving any current or former White House official involving any of these matters that are in the possession, custody, or control of the RNC or any of its affiliated entities. And in light of reports that some of the e-mails may have been deleted, we also request any information in the possession, custody, or control of the RNC or any of its affiliated entities, electronic or otherwise, including meta-data,

that might indicate when and for what periods any of those e-mails were deleted, or who may have been involved in deleting them. To the extent that you take the position that deleted e-mails cannot be retrieved, we must insist that, at the very least, technical experts working with us have the opportunity to question and work with RNC personnel to seek such recovery.

We understand that the White House has asked you for all e-mails by or to White House officials that are stored on or retrievable from RNC servers. Our request is narrower, specifically limited to e-mail and other records relating to the U.S. Attorney matters we are investigating, as described above. Particularly as these e-mails have already gone outside the confines of official White House communications channels, we would ask that, whatever you may be doing to respond to the White House request, you treat our request as separate and provide the materials we have requested directly to us, as quickly as possible, rather than diverting them into a White House review of the larger set of e-mails and thereby delaying our receipt of them. ...

[Tigress DEM]

35. New amendment -- Elected officials who use non-government servers...

to house government emails during a time of war must provide full copies of said emails within 24 hours of request by a legislative representative who presents < x > of co-sponsors for the request.

All emails that seem to be of legitimate purpose and that do not indicate any malfeasance against laws or the public interest by the official shall be held in confidential status within an appropriate committee.

If they do not provide said copies then the server will be seized by the legislative branch and an investigation into their non-compliance and reasons for non-compliance will begin and the defendant will be immediately remanded to jail for suspected treason against the United States of America.

Once the server is in possession by the legislature anything on it can be used as evidence in the trial and as reasonable cause to investigate other officials using the same server.

Any attempt to deny the public reasonable access to investigate subversive behavior by government officials during a time of war shall be punishable by fines, jail time and in certain heinous offenses, death. In other words, those who shield treasonous war criminals will be subject to the same level of punishment as if they had themselves committed the crime.


BRING BACK THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT AND GIVE IT TEETH, CLAWS A GUILLOTINE AND A BAD ASS ATTITUDE.

[L. Coyote]

36. The Presidential Records Act requires using government e-mail for USG business

And that is the case all the time.

[L. Coyote]

37. WA POST: Casual Lawbreaking at the White House = By Dan Froomkin

Casual Lawbreaking at the White House
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Tuesday, June 19, 2007; 1:14 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/06/19/BL2007061900924.html

New evidence unearthed by House Democrats establishes that White House political adviser Karl Rove and many of his colleagues used Republican National Committee e-mail accounts for official business -- even though White House policy is clear that doing so is a violation of the Presidential Records Act.

How did such casual lawbreaking come to be so widespread? And why was it tolerated? Those are among the questions the White House has yet to answer satisfactorily.

One reason for Rove's use of the RNC e-mail account would appear to be convenience.....

Another reason, suggested by White House spokesman Scott Stanzel in April, is that some people may have used their non-government accounts for official business due to "an abundance of caution" in order to avoid violating the Hatch Act...

Yet another possibility, of course, is that Rove and the others chose to use the RNC e-mail accounts for official business as a way to keep their e-mail from public scrutiny ... they appear to have succeeded ... RNC automatically deleted most e-mails after 30 days and allowed users to manually delete whatever they felt like. The result, as I first reported in April (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/04/12/BL2007041200941.html), is that countless White House e-mails are now missing .

[L. Coyote]

38. CNN: Report: White House aides used GOP e-mail to skirt law

Report: White House aides used GOP e-mail to skirt law
7:37 p.m. EDT, June 18, 2007 - http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/06/18/white.house.emails/

• Large volume of GOP e-mails have been deleted, House committee reports
• Accounts used in way that circumvented Presidential Records Act, report says
• Report also finds "major gaps in the e-mail records" for accounts that were saved
• GOP spokeswoman says report presents "Democrats' partisan spin as fact"

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- E-mail records are missing for 51 of the 88 White House aides with Republican Party accounts, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee reported Monday.

The White House says the accounts were set up to keep political work separate from official business, but investigators concluded White House officials used the accounts to conduct official business in a way that circumvented the Watergate-era Presidential Records Act.

The 37 accounts the Republican National Committee did save include nearly 675,000 individual messages .....

[L. Coyote]

39. TPM: Report: Loss of White House Emails "Most Serious Breach" in Record Law's History

Report: Loss of White House Emails "Most Serious Breach" in Record Law's History
By Laura McGann - June 18, 2007, 12:41 PM - http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003458.php

... the committee found heavy use of the account by some high-ranking officials....

Waxman's committee is investigating whether RNC email addresses were used for official work to avoid a record required by official email addresses and to what extent those acts violate the Presidential Records Act. Democrats were tipped off to the use of the off the record email system from emails revealed during the Jack Abramoff and U.S. Attorney firings investigations.

... Investigators now plan to pursue Alberto Gonzales' actions while White House counsel. The early report shows Gonzales likely knew Rove was using RNC accounts for official work, but that Gonzales did not intervene to keep records of those messages. ....

[L. Coyote]

40. VIDEO: Tony Snow Responds To Illegal Use Of RNC Accounts: Clinton Did It Too

"Snow’s statement is false...." More like a direct lie!

=====================
Snow Responds To Potentially Illegal Use Of RNC Accounts: Clinton Did It Too
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/06/19/snow-clinton-records/

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday ... apparent violation of the Hatch Act ... likely violate the Presidential Records Act.

During yesterday’s press briefing, White House spokesman Tony Snow brushed aside this direct evidence of potential illegality. His response: Clinton did it too. “Those email accounts were set up on a model based on the prior administration, which had done it the same way, in order to try to avoid Hatch Act violations.”

Watch it: EMBEDDED FLASH of C-SPAN2

Snow’s statement is false. In 1993, President Clinton’s then-Assistant to the President John Podesta issued a staff memo clearly stating that all administration e-mails dealing with official business had to be “incorporated into an official recordkeeping system,” stressing that no “e-mail document that is a Presidential record should be deleted.”

.........

The Clinton administration’s policy also made clear that personal and political e-mail accounts — which are generally exempt from the Presidential Records Act — could not be used for official business. Indeed, the Bush administration has seemingly implemented a policy opposite of the Clinton administration’s.

[L. Coyote]

41. USA TODAY: White House aides' e-mail records gone

White House aides' e-mail records gone
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-06-18-white-house-emails_N.htm

WASHINGTON (AP) — E-mail records are missing for 51 of the 88 White House officials ...

The administration has said that about 50 White House officials had RNC e-mail accounts during Bush's presidency. But the House committee found at least 88.
... "the RNC has preserved no e-mails for 51 officials," said the interim report, issued by committee chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif.....

The 51 include Ken Mehlman, a former White House political director ....

"Given the heavy reliance by White House officials on RNC e-mail accounts, the high rank of the White House officials involved, and the large quantity of missing e-mails," the report said, "the potential violation of the Presidential Records Act may be extensive."

Republicans said there is no evidence that the law was violated ....

[orleans]

44. randi talked about the emails on tuesday's show

here's the link (i'm listening to the first hour and it's all about the emails)

http://www.geocities.com/randirhodesarchives/

[L. Coyote]

48. Thanks. There was a strange redirect event from that link, to same URL ??

[L. Coyote]

54. Deposition of Susan Ralston

Deposition of Susan B. Ralston
May 10, 2007
http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070618105351.pdf