Breaking: Judge orders White House to hold e-mails

[cali]

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 57 minutes ago


WASHINGTON - A federal judge Monday ordered the White House to preserve copies of all its e-mails, a move that Bush administration lawyers had argued strongly against.

U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy directed the Executive Office of the President to safeguard the material in response to two lawsuits that seek to determine whether the White House has destroyed e-mails in violation of federal law.

The White House is seeking dismissal of the lawsuits brought by two private groups — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government and the National Security Archive.

The organizations allege the disappearance of 5 million White House e-mails. The court order issued by Kennedy, an appointee of President Clinton, is directed at maintaining backup tapes which contain copies of White House e-mails.

The Federal Records Act details strict standards prohibiting the destruction of government documents including electronic messages, unless first approved by the archivist of the United States.

Justice Department lawyers had urged the courts to accept a proposed White House declaration promising to preserve all backup tapes.

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[ThomWV]

1. One more step in the right direction.

Someone needs to go to jail and evidence needs to be preserved.

[Mike03]

3. It is a step in the right direction, but how many times have we

heard that so-and-so has been ordered to preserve emails? Honestly, what good has come out of that?

Seize.
Restore.
Report to the American people.

[Mike03]

2. They need to seize the computers

I don't trust the WH to keep anything, but forensic technicians can reassemble deleted emails.

[kestrel91316]

4. The computers from that time period have probably been sledgehammered already.

[Mike03]

6. True. The way things are going now, the CIA probably

helps the Whitehouse to defrag their hard drives so that they truly can obliterate the emails.

They need to make unannounced raids on Bush and Cheney and Rice and just seize their hard drives. I'm sick and tired of seeing these embarrassing committee meetings where Conyers or Waxman beg and plead for information from prevaricating witnesses.

[tridim]

5. Not if they burned or demagnetized the tapes and hard drives.

I'm guessing that happened long ago.

But, missing data is as bad or worse than hidden data in this case. So they're probably screwed either way.

[Mike03]

7. So data on the hardrive can be destroyed completely?

Even to the point where the FBI cannot restore it?

If so, somehow that doesn't surprise me, especially since Cheney has the CIA on his side.

These committee meeting where they plead with witnesses are such a huge embarrassment.

[zbdent]

10. Remember Zaphod Beeblebrox's threat ...

"Computer, if you don't open these doors right now, I'm going to reprogram your hard drive with a large axe ..."

[tridim]

14. It can be done with a degaussing coil from an old computer monitor

I don't claim to be an expert on the subject, but any magnetic media can be completely erased (unrecoverable) with a magnet that's powerful enough.

[ThomWV]

11. If they can find the hard drives on the bottom of the Potomac

[redqueen]

8. Too little, too late.

The crooks in the WH have likely covered all their tracks.

[Parche]

9. I Will Drink To That

:hi:

[cali]

13. Maybe, but it's not that easy to do..

information will out.

[redqueen]

15. I sure hope you're right!

I remember when the disappearing e-mails story first surfaced... people said as much.

I'm runing low on hope these past couple weeks.

:hug:

[Mike03]

17. I agree

It may be true that they can utterly destroy a hard drive, but it would be difficult within the confines and context of the White House to do this (with brute force) without it being obvious.

The important question is, is the FBI on our side, or the administration's side?

They can retrieve a hell of a lot from not just a hard drive but an email header or attached file or diskette. That's how they captured the BTK killer--he made a very simple mistake with a diskette.

[zbdent]

12. This has as about as much likelihood of making a difference as

the police wanting to talk to Cheney after his friend got shot in the face ... or any acknowledgement of the court order demanding the list of people he met with in Feb 2001 ...

[spanone]

16. meanwhile they allege 5 Million destroyed....criminals