Under Court Order, White House Admits Destroying Emails

[erik_kosberg]

"The White House has acknowledged recycling its backup computer tapes of e-mail before October 2003, raising the possibility that many electronic messages — including those pertaining to the CIA leak case — have been taped over and are gone forever.

The disclosure came minutes before midnight Tuesday under a court-ordered deadline that forced the White House to reveal information it has previously refused to provide."

No doubt, a simple honest mistake.

[erik_kosberg]

BTW, since this White House, like every other one, is bound by the Presidential Records Act, how can Team Bush not be guilty of violating the law? By their own admission, they're criminals.

[erik_kosberg]

"And let’s also not lose sight of the significance of the timeline. The missing emails were originally sent between March 2003 and October 2003 — a seven-month period that includes the launch of the war in Iraq, the leak of Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity as an undercover CIA official, and the beginning of the criminal investigation of the Bush White House."

If this is not a textbook case of obstruction of justice, what is?

[pippadaisy[$]]

I can't believe I'm saying this... but tape rotation is (or at least was) common back-up practice. Daily tape, weekly tape, monthly tape. My understanding was that it was ALL emails prior to 10/03, and that it was simply due to following standard back-up practice rather than thinking "Gee, this is the gubmint."

I know. I can't believe I'm saying it either. But I did it for a long time myself, and it doesn't deviate from what were SOP.

[erik_kosberg]

Nothing standard about it at all. It's not what the Clinton administration did. They complied with the Presidential Records Act and preserved their emails. Team Bush chose to deviate from that SOP. Why?

[pippadaisy[$]]

I'm saying it was standard from a Systems Administrator point of view. It's possible that the SA(s) didn't know, weren't trained, etc. and did what they usually did. I've gotta assume they have a fairly standard churn rate.

[erik_kosberg]

"The missing White House emails that will never be found"

Without so much as a slap on the wrist for those who broke the law. Sweet.

[brian_igo]

pippadaisy said

I'm saying it was standard from a Systems Administrator point of view. It's possible that the SA(s) didn't know, weren't trained, etc. and did what they usually did. I've gotta assume they have a fairly standard churn rate.

SA's aren't political appointees, they're GSA career employees who should have stayed on the job from one administration to the next. Which means they should have been using the same preservation procedures - unless they were instructed not to.