January, 15 2009, 01:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Naomi Seligman 202.408.5565
Major Victory in CREW's White House Lawsuit- White House Ordered to Preserve All Materials Relevant to CREW's Lawsuit
WASHINGTON
Today, Magistrate Judge John Facciola ordered the White House to search the entire Executive Office of the President (EOP) and the Office of Administration (OA) to collect and preserve all emails sent or received between March 2003 and October 2005. The order further directs the White House to collect and preserve all materials that could be relevant to CREW's lawsuit and prohibits their transfer to the Archives without the Court's permission. CREW sued EOP and OA over a year ago after learning that millions of emails had gone missing from White House servers.
Today's ruling was issued in response to CREW's request for a preservation order given the upcoming presidential transition and the expected transfer of these records to the National Archives. CREW's chief counsel Anne Weismann said, "We are gratified the Court recognized that unless these materials are preserved, the country faces the loss of historic records of national importance. Even once a new administration takes office, CREW will continue seeking to hold the Bush administration accountable for its role in the disappearance of the 14 million emails."
Read Judge Facciola's preservation order and opinion in the Related Documents section here.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government and public life by targeting government officials -- regardless of party affiliation -- who sacrifice the common good to special interests. CREW advances its mission using a combination of research, litigation and media outreach.
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