White House Suggests No E-Mail Missing

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

The White House tried Thursday to tamp down a growing e-mail controversy, dismissing suggestions that millions of electronic messages are missing from the early days of the Bush administration.

The comments by spokesman Tony Fratto shifted away from White House statements last spring that expressed uncertainty over whether the allegations were true or not.

The latest round of questions began Wednesday when the White House, under a court order to disclose, was forced to admit that it had undercut its last line of defense for preserving any missing electronic messages by recycling its backup tapes _ taping over its previously backed-up electronic documents, raising the possibility that some e-mail was erased.

In response, the White House went on the offensive.

"We have no reason to believe that there is any data missing at all" from White House computer servers, said Fratto. "And we've certainly found no evidence of any data missing." The court filing about recycling of backup tapes also stated that the White House is undertaking an independent assessment to whether any e-mail is missing.



Read more: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004130952_apwhitehouseemail17.html?syndication=rss

[MadMaddie]

1. So if the backup tapes were taped over...

because (wink wink) the WH adheres to IT standards)and the WH can't seem to come up with the actual emails.....that would = missing emails...

These guys are getting desperate....and they are tripping over their lies on a daily basis.......

The remaining rat staffers should have fled the sinking Titatantic when they had the chance cause they are going down with the ship.....

[Kittycat]

3. Well, missing suggests they don't know what happened to them.

I'd laugh, but I feel more like crying.

[RuleOfNah]

6. The Bush regime just sent a check to the phone company.

If the check clears, the countrytap data mine may contain the missing emails, because corpgov partnerships work!

:sarcasm:

[NanceGreggs]

2. The check is in the mail ...

... I was wearing a condom, the emails are all still there.

Okey, dokey.

[rockybelt]

7. And

I'm from the IRS and I'm here to help you.

[rodeodance]

4. wh now says no missing data. Ha ha-WH doing its own investigation!!

[MadMaddie]

5. So if they are not missing and they have

not provided the information to Congressional requests and Court requests...isn't this considered Obstruction Of Justice


Hey Nancy P can we impeach now?

[rockybelt]

8. Somebody in this White House

needs to learn how to operate a computer so they can sort and catagorize all their fuck ups and lies. They can't remember which lies are current today. maybe they should color match their lies with their color coded panties. Pink for Monday, Yellow for Tuesday........

It is impossible to keep track of all their scandals and lies without a multi-gig hard drive.

A horrible thought just occurred to me. Don't ever let them discover flash cards!!!

[f the letter]

9. Oh come the fuck on.

No evidence of data missing ... jesus

[aquart]

13. I'm waiting for "Barney ate 'em."

[lumberjack_jeff]

10. Of course there's nothing missing from WH servers.

The whole issue is they used RNC servers to conduct public business.

[Beetwasher]

11. "And we've certainly found no evidence of any data missing."

....Because we never looked for evidence.

[hg4]

12. Sarbanes-Oxley does not apply to whitehouse?

My hunch anyway is that it does not apply, but it does
to our company, and all our emails (*deleted* or not) are
retained for seven years; when we delete an email,
we as end users can not get it back, but our IT dept can, for
seven years.

[struggle4progress]

14. White House Suggests No E-Mail Missing

Source: Associated Press

Jan 17, 4:51 PM (ET)
By PETE YOST

WASHINGTON (AP) - ....

"We have no reason to believe that there is any data missing at all" from White House computer servers, said <White House deputy press secretary Tony> Fratto . "And we've certainly found no evidence of any data missing." ...

Regarding the disclosure that backup tapes had been recycled, the sworn declaration by Theresa Payton defended the White House's conduct by saying that recycling backup tapes was "consistent with industry best practices."

An e-mail technology expert disagreed.

"The best practice is to archive and store everything in a system that's searchable for e-mail and kept in an orderly and organized way," said Rurik Bradbury, vice president of strategy for Intermedia, which runs e-mail systems for a quarter of a million companies ...


Read more: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080117/D8U7ST1O0.html

---

Bush tapes backing up e-mails got recycled
The White House's filing that it routinely recorded over messages raises the possibility that significant data may be lost forever.
By Dan Eggen
The Washington Post
Article Last Updated: 01/17/2008 12:11:10 AM MST

WASHINGTON — The White House has acknowledged in a new court filing that it routinely recycled computer backup tapes containing its e-mail records until October 2003, a practice that could mean that many electronic messages from the first two years of the Bush administration are lost forever.

The disclosure raises the possibility that the White House effectively erased e-mail related to some of the biggest controversies of the Bush administration, including the leak of a CIA officer's name, the start of the Iraq war and the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes.

The administration previously has acknowledged problems with its archiving systems but had not disclosed its practice of overwriting backup tapes. The backups are meant to preserve records in case of a disaster. They also serve a role in ensuring that federal record-keeping laws are met. Two separate statutes require the White House to preserve federal or presidential records ...

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_7992236

White House: What Missing Emails?

Today, the White House dramatically changed its tune on the 5 to 10 million emails reportedly missing from its servers ...

MR. FRATTO: I think those charges came from outside the White House. I think that's the charge of one of the—

Q: One of your colleagues addressed those from the podium and suggested that that was accurate‹again, I'm taking—

MR. FRATTO: I'm not sure what was said on that. I can tell you today, though, that we have no evidence and we have no way of showing that any emails at all are missing ...

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/01/6905_tony_fratto_can.html

Missing White House tapes — sound familiar?

Under a court-ordered disclosure, the Bush White House revealed this week that it destroyed e-mail backup tapes for a period of time before October 2003 — a possible violation of federal laws requiring preservation of presidential documents.

The revelation came amid a lawsuit by citizen groups trying to find out what happened to millions of allegedly missing White House e-mails.

Because of the recycling, “there may be no way to recover the missing e-mails from a period in which the U.S. decided to go to war with Iraq, White House officials leaked the identity of Valerie Plame and the Justice Department started a criminal investigation of the White House,” said Anne Weismann, a lawyer for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The most secretive administration in history is working hard to cover its tracks. What does the Bush team have to hide? Apparently a lot.

http://blogs.kansas.com/weblog/2008/01/missing-white-house-tapes-sound-familiar/

Fratto: ‘We Have Absolutely No Reason To Believe Any E-mails Are Missing’

... As CREW executive director Melanie Sloan told ThinkProgress:

Tony Fratto is lying. There is considerable evidence demonstrating that millions of White House emails are missing from between 2003 and 2005; in fact, White House spokesperson Dana Perino confirmed this in a previous statement, televised on April 13, 2007.

As Sloan notes, on April 13, 2007, Perino explicitly told reporters, “I wouldn’t rule out that there were a potential 5 million e-mails lost. … We screwed up, and we’re trying to fix it.” Additionally, the White House officials admitted to the House Oversight Committee on May 29, 2007, that “an unknown number of e-mails may not have been preserved in the White House archive” ...

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/17/white-house-emails/

White House Suggests No E-Mail Missing
By PETE YOST – 55 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — ...

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., scheduled a hearing and challenged the White House to explain spokesman Tony Fratto's remark that "we have absolutely no reason to believe that any e-mails are missing."

The White House provided information indicating 473 days for which various units in the Executive Office of the President had no archived e-mails, wrote Waxman, head of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Asked to testify on Feb. 15 are White House counsel Fred Fielding; Alan Swendiman, director of the White House Office of Administration; and Allen Weinstein, archivist of the United States ...

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hsG0My2Q3Eu9Sj2PSupnj4xeQXxAD8U81HLG0

[yourout]

15. What a load of crap.........They are doing the Texas two step trying to run out the clock.

[C_U_L8R]

16. It's the coverup

that gets crooks like this every time.

They just can't help themselves.

[uppityperson]

17. uppityperson suggests WhiteHouse has its head up its a**

[gratuitous]

18. Well, if they aren't missing

Then the corrupt Bush administration should have no trouble producing the e-mails to the courts that have ordered their production and the congressional committees that have subpoenaed them.

It's a wonder everyone in the White House doesn't suffer from whiplash with all the sudden changes of direction.

[struggle4progress]

19. oops dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3145248

[hg4]

20. Sarbanes-Oxley does not apply to whitehouse?

My hunch anyway is that it does not apply, but it does
to our company, and all our emails (*deleted* or not) are
retained for seven years. Repeating, when we delete an email,
we as end users can not get it back, but our IT dept can, for
seven years.

[hootinholler]

32. Nope, but the Presidential Records Act does.

Not sure what the (if any) penalties are.

-Hoot

[L. Coyote]

21. "criminal penalties of up to three years in prison for destruction of government documents"

Must be covering up something worse, like death penalty crimes, torture, impeachable offenses.....???

[diane in sf]

26. hiding their planning 9.11 perhaps

[jtrockville]

22. "Industry best practice"??? WHAT industry does PRA apply to?

This isn't about "backup" tapes. It's about ARCHIVAL records which conform to the Presidential Records Act.

[sueh]

23. All I can say at the moment...

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[tom_paine]

24. The Bushies just lie and lie and lie, and they keep on getting away with it.

No one holds them to account. No one sends the FBI in to seize their computers...it's waaaaay to fucking late anyhow. All loose ends have long ago been cut, and those drives have been formatted and re-formatted 50, 100 times each by now.

Fratto wouldn;t be telling such a boldfaced lie if there was any chance any tiny remnant of incriminating data remained. They have had a long to time to have their Evil Bushie Computer Whizzes to track down every avenue and blank and re-blank it.

Evil wins. It always seems to win these days. Bin Laden and Bush are both victorious over the American People, and they are laughing and pissing on us all they way to the bank.

What choices are we left with, especially after the sham "election" of 2008?

[ladywnch]

25. 473 days; 18 minutes.....it's all the same.

if it can hurt us......lose it! :grr:

[deacon]

27. From 5 million missing to none??? Now thats some stretch. n/t

[The Wizard]

28. Oh sure

Every word coming out of the White House ----------------------- is a lie.
WMD WMD WMD WMD rinse and repeat. The dog ate my homework.

[Norrin Radd]

29. *cough*bullshit*cough*

[yellowcanine]

30. This is starting to look like Lucy with the football and Charlie Brown.

And guess who is Lucy and who is Charlie Brown?

[SIMPLYB1980]

31. "We have no reason to believe that there is any data missing at all" from White House computer serve

I call

[neohippie]

33. it seems to me...

that equally as big as this story, is the fact that Whitehorse staff used RNC email accounts to conduct business in what would clearly be an effort to try and subvert the whole Presidential Records act and the archival process. The fact that they felt the need to establish an "off the record" method of communication when they first came into office demonstrates criminal intent

[Supersedeas]

34. another independent investigation!!