Bush/Cheney/Rove/Gonzales are in deep doo-doo. Even Fred's blind faith
support can't help them now.

Investigation Uncovers 'Extensive Destruction' Of RNC Emails, Violations Of
Records Act
House investigators have learned that the Bush administration's use of
Republican National Committee email accounts is far greater than previously
disclosed - 140,216 emails sent or received by Karl Rove alone - and that
the RNC has overseen "extensive destruction" of many of the emails,
including all email records for 51 White House officials.

For the last several months, the House Oversight and Government Reform
Committee has been "investigating whether White House officials violated the
Presidential Records Act" by using email accounts maintained by the RNC and
the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign for official White House communications. Today's
findings confirm that the accounts were used "for official purposes, such as
communicating with federal agencies about federal appointments and
policies." The report adds:

Given the heavy reliance by White House officials on RNC e-mail accounts,
the high rank of the White House officials involved, and the large quantity
of missing e-mails, the potential violation of the Presidential Records Act
may be extensive.

Some other key findings:

- RNC account use far greater than believed: Despite White House
spokesperson Dana Perino's claim that 50 White House officials used RNC
email accounts "over the course of the administration," the committee
learned that at least 88 White House officials had RNC e-mail accounts.

- Bush-Cheney 04 campaign stonewalling: The committee says it may need to
"issue compulsory process" to force the cooperation of the Bush-Cheney '04
campaign. Despite providing at least eleven White House officials with email
accounts, "the campaign has unjustifiably refused" to provide the Committee
with even the most basic information about the accounts, including the
number of e-mails that have been preserved.

- Destroyed RNC emails may be preserved by federal agencies. The RNC has
preserved only 130 e-mails sent to Karl Rove during Bush's first term and no
e-mails sent by Rove prior to November 2003. "For many other White House
officials, the RNC has no e-mails from before the fall of 2006." Several
federal agencies contacted by the committee have indicated they "have
preserved official communications that were destroyed by the RNC," but
others have resisted the investigation.

- Gonzales may have known about RNC account use. According to a deposition
from Rove's former assistant Susan Ralston, in 2001, then-White House
counsel Alberto Gonzales "may have known that White House officials were
using RNC e-mail accounts for official business, but took no action to
preserve these presidential records." The committee calls for an
investigation into Gonzales' actions on this matter.

Read the full oversight committee report HERE.

UPDATE: The Gavel has several additional links. Christy Hardin Smith has
additional analysis.

Digg It! | Reddit

UPDATE II: Sen. Patrick Leahy's (D-VT) statement:

This Administration's penchant for secrecy and disdain for oversight seems
to know no bounds. It is troubling that so many senior White House
officials, including Karl Rove and his former deputy Sara Taylor, were
engaging in an effort to avoid oversight and accountability by ignoring the
laws meant to ensure a public record of official government business. This
extensive end-run around the laws leads one to wonder what these officials
wanted to hide from the public and Congress.

This report indicates that Mr. Rove and Ms. Taylor were some of the
heaviest users of these RNC e-mail accounts, and both officials have been
linked to a project to fire several Department of Justice prosecutors that
is currently the subject of congressional investigations. Now that we know
more than 100,000 of Mr. Rove's secret e-mails have not been destroyed, I
hope the White House will respond to my request for any e-mails from his
account that are relevant to the Judiciary Committee's investigation. I look
forward to Ms. Taylor searching the thousands of e-mails from her account in
accordance with a subpoena she was issued last week.

Filed under: Ethics, Administration

Posted by Think Progress June 18, 2007 12:01 pm

Bush/Cheney/Rove/Gonzales are in deep doo-doo. Even Fred's blind faith
support can't help them now.

Investigation Uncovers 'Extensive Destruction' Of RNC Emails, Violations Of
Records Act
House investigators have learned that the Bush administration's use of
Republican National Committee email accounts is far greater than previously
disclosed - 140,216 emails sent or received by Karl Rove alone - and that
the RNC has overseen "extensive destruction" of many of the emails,
including all email records for 51 White House officials.

For the last several months, the House Oversight and Government Reform
Committee has been "investigating whether White House officials violated the
Presidential Records Act" by using email accounts maintained by the RNC and
the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign for official White House communications. Today's
findings confirm that the accounts were used "for official purposes, such as
communicating with federal agencies about federal appointments and
policies." The report adds:

Given the heavy reliance by White House officials on RNC e-mail accounts,
the high rank of the White House officials involved, and the large quantity
of missing e-mails, the potential violation of the Presidential Records Act
may be extensive.

Some other key findings:

- RNC account use far greater than believed: Despite White House
spokesperson Dana Perino's claim that 50 White House officials used RNC
email accounts "over the course of the administration," the committee
learned that at least 88 White House officials had RNC e-mail accounts.

- Bush-Cheney 04 campaign stonewalling: The committee says it may need to
"issue compulsory process" to force the cooperation of the Bush-Cheney '04
campaign. Despite providing at least eleven White House officials with email
accounts, "the campaign has unjustifiably refused" to provide the Committee
with even the most basic information about the accounts, including the
number of e-mails that have been preserved.

- Destroyed RNC emails may be preserved by federal agencies. The RNC has
preserved only 130 e-mails sent to Karl Rove during Bush's first term and no
e-mails sent by Rove prior to November 2003. "For many other White House
officials, the RNC has no e-mails from before the fall of 2006." Several
federal agencies contacted by the committee have indicated they "have
preserved official communications that were destroyed by the RNC," but
others have resisted the investigation.

- Gonzales may have known about RNC account use. According to a deposition
from Rove's former assistant Susan Ralston, in 2001, then-White House
counsel Alberto Gonzales "may have known that White House officials were
using RNC e-mail accounts for official business, but took no action to
preserve these presidential records." The committee calls for an
investigation into Gonzales' actions on this matter.

Read the full oversight committee report HERE.

UPDATE: The Gavel has several additional links. Christy Hardin Smith has
additional analysis.

Digg It! | Reddit

UPDATE II: Sen. Patrick Leahy's (D-VT) statement:

This Administration's penchant for secrecy and disdain for oversight seems
to know no bounds. It is troubling that so many senior White House
officials, including Karl Rove and his former deputy Sara Taylor, were
engaging in an effort to avoid oversight and accountability by ignoring the
laws meant to ensure a public record of official government business. This
extensive end-run around the laws leads one to wonder what these officials
wanted to hide from the public and Congress.

This report indicates that Mr. Rove and Ms. Taylor were some of the
heaviest users of these RNC e-mail accounts, and both officials have been
linked to a project to fire several Department of Justice prosecutors that
is currently the subject of congressional investigations. Now that we know
more than 100,000 of Mr. Rove's secret e-mails have not been destroyed, I
hope the White House will respond to my request for any e-mails from his
account that are relevant to the Judiciary Committee's investigation. I look
forward to Ms. Taylor searching the thousands of e-mails from her account in
accordance with a subpoena she was issued last week.

Filed under: Ethics, Administration

Posted by Think Progress June 18, 2007 12:01 pm