Re: Congressional investigators probe why White House aides used GOP-sponsored e-mail accounts
- From: "Jerry Okamura" <okamuraj005@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:59:28 -0700
I have got kind of mixed emotions about this new trend. As I understand the issue, these separate email accounts was the direct result of Congressional action, which "mandated" a separation between what would be considered a political message from that which is part of working for the Government. "If" that is true, then I don't think it is anybodies business what was said in these email messages, and I do not like the idea of some government type, whoever they are, sticking their nose into what I would consider a private conversation. On the other hand, "if" there was some criminal wrongdoing, that would be another matter. But there I would think, like every other attempt by government to listen or read what is otherwise a personal conversation, should only be allowed "if" they have a court order authorizing the government to listen or read those messages.
"Florida" <demeter547opine@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:1176339738.187185.33910@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070411/prosecutors-white-house
Congressional investigators probe why White House aides used GOP-
sponsored e-mail accounts
JENNIFER LOVEN | AP | April 11, 2007 06:50 PM EST
WASHINGTON - The White House said Wednesday it had mishandled
Republican Party-sponsored e-mail accounts used by nearly two dozen
presidential aides, resulting in the loss of an undetermined number of
e-mails concerning official White House business.
Congressional investigators looking into the administration's firing
of eight federal prosecutors already had the nongovernmental e-mail
accounts in their sights because some White House aides used them to
help plan the U.S. attorneys' ouster. Democrats were questioning
whether the use of the GOP-provided e-mail accounts was proof that the
firings were political.
Democrats also have been asking if White House officials are purposely
conducting sensitive official presidential business via
nongovernmental accounts to get around a law requiring preservation _
and eventual disclosure _ of presidential records. The announcement of
the lost e-mails _ a rare admission of error from the Bush White House
at a delicate time for the administration's relations with
Democratically controlled Capitol Hill _ gave new fodder for inquiry
on this front.
"This sounds like the administration's version of the dog ate my
homework," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-
Vt. "I am deeply disturbed that just when this administration is
finally subjected to meaningful oversight, it cannot produce the
necessary information."
The Republican National Committee set up the accounts for about 20
Bush aides, such as Karl Rove and his deputies, who get involved in
politics, spokesman Scott Stanzel said. Having the GOP create non-
White House addresses and provide separate BlackBerries, laptops and
other communications gear was designed to avoid running afoul of Hatch
Act rules barring federal employees from engaging in political
activities with government resources or on government time, he said.
Under President Clinton, White House aides used separate equipment for
political spadework but did not have separate accounts.
"This is entirely appropriate," Stanzel said of the Bush White House
practice.
He said staffers used their RNC accounts instead of White House
accounts to discuss the prosecutor issue or conduct other official
business for several reasons, including extra caution about complying
with the Hatch Act as well as the convenience of using one account
instead of several. Stanzel said he could not speak to whether anyone
was intentionally trying to avoid White House archiving because he had
not spoken to all those involved.
Stanzel said some e-mails have been lost because the White House
lacked clear policies on complying with Presidential Records Act
requirements.
Before 2004, for instance, e-mails to and from the accounts were
typically automatically deleted every 30 days along with all other RNC
e-mails. Even though that was changed in 2004, so that the White House
staffers with those accounts were excluded from the RNC's automatic
deletion policy, some of their e-mails were lost anyway when
individual aides deleted their own files, Stanzel said.
He could not say what had been lost, and said the White House is
working to recover as many as they can. The White House has now shut
off employees' ability to delete e-mails on the separate accounts, and
is briefing staffers on how to better make determinations about when _
and when not _ to use them, Stanzel said.
The disclosure could complicate a standoff between the White House and
congressional Democrats over the fired prosecutors.
The White House had promised to look through its staffers' e-mails for
anything relevant to the prosecutors' dismissal. No matter the domain
name, it said it would provide documents to the Senate and House
Judiciary committees as long as they are not internal communications,
but exchanges with people outside the White House.
But the White House also had insisted that this offer of documents be
accepted, all-or-nothing, along with its insistence that aides would
talk to Congress about the firings, but not under oath. So far,
Democrats have refused.
Democrats have begun highlighting the separate accounts because they
say their use appears to go beyond the strictly political.
"We have become increasingly sensitized over the last several days to
the White House staff wearing several 'hats' and using Republican
National Committee and campaign e-mail addresses," said a letter from
the Senate and House Judiciary chairmen to White House counsel Fred
Fielding on March 28. "We hope you agree that such sleight of hand
should not be used to circumvent and compromise the comprehensiveness
of our investigation."
The nongovernmental accounts were accidentally discovered by Democrats
when the Justice Department released hundreds of documents related to
the prosecutor firings.
One exchange showed deputy White House political director J. Scott
Jennings sending an e-mail titled "USATTY" to Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales' then-chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, from an address with a
gwb43.com domain name.
"Does a list of all vacant, or about to be vacant, US Attorney slots
exist anywhere?" Jennings wrote on Dec. 3 from his political account.
Replied Sampson, a few minutes later: "My office. Want me to send to
you tomorrow?"
Jennings had also communicated with Sampson and other Justice
Department officials in August from his RNC-supplied address about how
to install the administration's preferred replacement, onetime Rove
aide Tim Griffin, for Arkansas U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins.
In one, Jennings passed on a strategy he said was suggested by
Cummins, to have Griffin come on as an attorney in the Little Rock
office until Cummins finalized his post-government plans. Jennings
said the plan would "alleviate pressure/implication that Tim forced
Bud out."
Sampson's e-mails all appeared to be from his official usdoj.gov
account.
The separate e-mail accounts also have become an issue in the case of
disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was convicted on bribery charges
and is in prison for fraud.
Abramoff had several exchanges with Susan Ralston, then a Rove
assistant, via nongovernment e-mail addresses with domain names like
rnchq.org and georgewbush.com, to discuss issues in the Interior
Department affecting the lobbyist's Indian clients.
___
Associated Press writers Lara Jakes Jordan and Laurie Kellman
contributed to this story.
.
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