July, 02 2009, 12:21pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Jordan Libowitz,,jlibowitz@citizensforethics.org,.
CREW Posts Additional Details of the Missing White House Emails Released by Administration
The White House defendants have released additional documents in CREW's long-running lawsuit, CREW v. EOP,
regarding the millions of emails that went missing from the Bush White
House servers. A majority of these documents appear to be copies of
documents the Bush White House gave to the House Oversight Committee
several years ago.
WASHINGTON
The White House defendants have released additional documents in CREW's long-running lawsuit, CREW v. EOP,
regarding the millions of emails that went missing from the Bush White
House servers. A majority of these documents appear to be copies of
documents the Bush White House gave to the House Oversight Committee
several years ago.
A significant portion of the documents are emails and spreadsheets
prepared by the Office of Administration in 2005 and early 2006 as it
discovered the missing emails and analyzed the scope of the problem. As
in the last production, virtually all names have been blacked out with
no explanations for the redactions. The spreadsheets and other computer
listings detail the days and components for which emails are missing
and appear to be the output of computer processes used to identify the
contents of the PST files in which White House emails were stored.
During this same time frame, the White House was responding to
subpoenas for documents related to the investigation into the leak of
Valerie Plame Wilson's covert CIA identity, and the documents include
discussions of problems in locating responsive Office of the Vice
President (OVP) emails as well as spreadsheets of OVP emails from
October 13, 2003, sorted by name, size and number of items.
Significantly, the documents include an analysis dated November 2007
- when CREW's lawsuit was first filed - of the Office of
Administration's report of its findings. OAP00004640.
These documents conclusively demonstrate that at the same time the Bush
administration was publicly proclaiming there was no missing email
problem, administration officials had in hand an internal analysis
detailing just such a problem. More simply, the documents prove the
administration lied.
Other documents are related to the Office of Administration's
attempt in 2007-08 to analyze how many and which emails were missing,
and to restore a limited number of them from backup tapes. This process
is ongoing despite the fact the Obama administration moved to dismiss
the lawsuit in January claiming it had done all that is legally
required.
In testimony before Congress in February 2008, then Office of
Administration Chief Information Officer Theresa Payton suggested
emails might not actually have been missing. These documents reveal the
White House was well aware of the problem.
Browse these documents in the Related Documents section on the right.
Click here to browse the first batch of documents.
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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