Tuesday, April 17, 2007

The Itchy & Scratchy show: Executive Privilege on Crack Part Deux


In a letter to the RNC, Emmet Flood, a special counsel to President Bush, “today again raised the possibility of an executive-privilege claim on e-mails and other documents from private e-mail accounts used by senior White House officials” but controlled by the RNC. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) called the request “extreme and unnecessary” and said it was “a clear attempt, on the Administration’s part, to delay this process and keep the wheels of Justice turning slowly.”
According to the Washington Post, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel stated this about the
White House e-mail policy: "Federal law requires the preservation of electronic communications sent or received by White House staff," says the handbook that all staffers are given and expected to read and comply with.
"As a result, personnel working on behalf of the EOP [Executive Office of the President] are expected to only use government-provided e-mail services for all official communication."
The handbook further explains: "The official EOP e-mail system is designed to automatically comply with records management requirements."

1 comment:

airJackie said...

I know the Supreme Court doesn't want to hear this again. It would be difficult for the Justices to now say keeping records is executive privilege in a criminal matter when Nixon couldn't. Yes some of the same Justices would now have to say why they changed their minds in the same law. As more crimes come to light it's going to be interesting.