My ABA email newsletter caught my eye today. They generally don’t deal with (and certainly don’t lead) with political issues. But today the talk was about AG Gonzales’ extraordinary claim not to use email. In fact, neither does Bush, Cheney, nor Condi, and even Rove and other top officials are said to limit their use of email, or only email through subordinates.
The obvious benefit to avoiding the modern world is the ability to avoid new e-discovery rules which are very adept at ferreting out electronic records, especially email, in case of litigation. There have been a great number of embarrassing and costly slips of the electronic lip in court cases in recent years. The Administration, being painfully aware of this trend, and desirous of avoiding the Presidential Records Act (PRA), which makes their every phone call, note, memo, and email the property of the American people, allege tthey simply choose not to use email. So, when the Congress, or some nosey-parker with a FOIA request, comes calling, there is simply nothing harmful to disclose.
Right….
They are claiming to simply not use one of the most efficient methods of non-synchronous communication available while running the most complex and powerful nation on earth. If they aren’t just hopeless Luddite, then they are scandalously stupid. Well, maybe not so much… what if there is method to their madness?
Certainly, the official servers subject to the PRA back up their claims. There simply aren’t any emails, or very few, from the Administration’s top people. But, you know, needs for secret and confidential communication have a way of getting met on the internet, especially when you are powerful and have lots of resources. Meet GWB43.com. (the story is evolving fast, so a Google News search of the term is useful)
The RNC apparently runs a secret server that has been used extensively by White House officials in political work. Not only could this violate campaign finance rules (remember the furor over a few fund-raising phone calls from Gore VP office? campaign-related email from the White House via outside servers would also be verbotten), but could also run afoul of the PRA which requires preservation and archiving of all such communications.
It makes you wonder how much more of the White House’s official communications have been diverted into party-run resources where they are unaccounted for, and not easily found for the purposes of PRA. In fact, if this practice has occurred, it is a criminal enterprise. How much longer do you think it will be before megabytes of emails from W and the gang spill forth, documenting the dirty little details of how they directed their minions in how to ruin the world? My guess? Any day now.
I watched the Representative Henrey Waxman hearing with the Council General; who came accross as an uninformed boob. My question is why Waxman a Democrat is leaning heavely on a Bush Presidential Appointee who can not walk and chew gum at the same time over a Contract that was NOT signed at a Brown Bag meeting where he was invited but did NOT attend?! The talk is the White House called a meeting where they talked about Congressional Candidates Campaigns and to support Republican Candidates. I think this IS something the F.E.C. should be involved with as it does have authority in this issue of IN KIND GIFTS wheather it be money or political talk. As politics IS politics it would be nice to see the F.E.C. earn its money even though it can NOT afford to by stamps to mail filing forms to candidates.