Study Finds Administration E-Mail Missing for 473 Days
An administration study shows one or more White House offices failed to archive e-mail messages on 473 separate days, according to a summary released by the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Committee chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said he released the study because of what seemed to be an unsubstantiated statement by a White House spokesman that there is no evidence of missing e-mail, the Washington Post reports.
The study found that no e-mail for President Bush’s executive office was archived on 12 separate days between December 2003 and 2004, and no e-mail for Vice President Cheney’s office was stored on 15 days between September 2003 and May 2005.
Other offices had even longer gaps in e-mail archives, including the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which stored no e-mail for 73 days.
Waxman wants White House counsel Fred Fielding and other officials to testify on the e-mail issue. The White House has questioned the accuracy of the study.
Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, which is suing over the missing e-mail, said in court papers yesterday that the White House may have destroyed “critical and highly relevant evidence.” The White House has acknowledged in the suit that it had routinely taped over e-mail backup tapes.
