April, 12 2010, 02:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Peter Bjork 202.408.5565
CREW Seeks Additional Information About WH Staffer's Use of Personal Email to Conduct Official Administration Business
WASHINGTON
Today CREW sent a letter to counsel for the White House
in CREW
v. Executive Office of the President, CREW's lawsuit
challenging the failure of the Bush administration to preserve millions
of White House emails, based on recent revelations that White House
official Andrew McLaughlin has been using his Gmail account to
communicate with Google officials, including lobbyists, and other top
White House officials. A critical term of CREW's settlement
of this lawsuit was the commitment of the White House to have an
appropriate records management system in place that, among other things,
blocked the ability of White House staff to access personal email
accounts through the EOP network. But the apparent use by Mr.
McLaughlin - Deputy Chief Technology Officer for the White House Office
of Science and Technology Policy - of his Gmail account to conduct
official business casts doubt on whether the White House has, in fact,
met this obligation.
Click
here to read CREW's letter.
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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