The Lost E-Mails

Just when you though it was safe to go back into the Department of Justice... WATERGATE REDUX!

So the 3000+ pages of documents and e-mails that the White House provided as part of their "generous offer" were filled with redacted pages, blocked out information, etc. etc. ... we all know that by now. We now learn that the White House "is being accused of improperly trying to hide e-mails about government business by using unofficial e-mail accounts.
Congressional investigators say they found communications on one account from top White House aides about official matters, like the December firings of eight U.S. attorneys.
Those e-mails were discovered on a Republican National Committee e-mail domain called gwb43.com. That domain is not part of the official White House communication system."

GWB43... what a creative name! Especially for an e-mail system that no one is supposed to know about. These guys are soooooooo smart. Of course, the White House is defending its position by saying that the outside e-mail account was used for separating government business from political campaign work.

The Presidential Records Act, passed during the Nixon administration, requires the preservation of all official records of and about the president.

And here's the kicker: a chain of e-mails "...illustrated the type of exchange taking place on the account. The e-mails began with a February 2003 message from [from now-imprisoned lobbyist Jack] Abramoff to Susan Ralston, the former executive assistant to President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove.

In the chain, Abramoff advised Ralston that an upcoming Interior Department gaming compact with a Louisiana Indian tribe would be "an anathema to our supporters down there."

When an associate notified him that his e-mail had been forwarded to another White House aide, Abramoff replied, "Dammit. It was sent to Susan on her RNC pager and was not supposed to go into the WH (White House) system."

"Now we are learning that the 'off book' communications they were having about these actions, by using Republican political email addresses, have not been preserved," Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said on the Senate floor.
He added, "Like the famous 18-minute gap in the Nixon White House tapes, it appears likely that key documentation has been erased or misplaced. This sounds like the Administration's version of 'the dog ate my homework.'"

Leahy also vehemently said that he doesn't believe the e-mails were lost, deleted, or misplaced. "You can't erase e-mails. Not today. They've gone through too many servers. They can't say they've been lost."