Beware the Electronic Trash Can
In theory, electronic correspondence is hard to erase. But as I learned when I was at the Department of Corporations, when an institution has something to hide and good lawyers helping them hide it, even the power of subpoena doesn’t guarantee that past emails will see the light of day.
Tom Hamburger of the LA Times reports on why my experience in state government may prove a cautionary tale for a California congressman:
Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, last week formally requested access to broad categories of RNC-White House e-mails.
Waxman told the Los Angeles Times in a statement that a separate “e-mail system for high-ranking White House officials would raise serious questions about violations of the Presidential Records Act,” which requires the preservation and ultimate disclosure of e-mails about official government business.
Waxman’s initial request to the RNC seeks e-mails relating to the presentation of campaign polling and strategy information to Cabinet agency appointees. He is also expected to ask for e-mails relating to Abramoff’s activities, which Waxman is also investigating.
The Senate and House Judiciary Committees are also expected to formally request e-mail records from the RNC that relate to last year’s firing of eight U.S. attorneys.
The private e-mail system came to light in the U.S. attorney controversy because one of Rove’s deputies used an RNC-maintained e-mail domain — gwb43.com — to communicate with the Justice Department about replacing one of those prosecutors.
I have no doubt there is some good stuff on those e-mails. Those White House staffers thought they were being so clever by not putting their political machinations on government computers. Unfortunately, I’m not feeling very confident about Waxman’s ability to actually get his hands on the smoking guns.
