House memo targets Rove e-mails(Waxman expands on the April 20 letter w/ detailed instructions)

[maddezmom]

Source: Examiner

WASHINGTON -
A House committee has sent a memo to federal agencies dictating how they should conduct a wide search for e-mails involving political appointees, White House adviser Karl Rove and other aides.

The memo from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform provides a nine-step guidance on how Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., wants bureaucrats to search six years' worth of e-mails.

"The search should include any e-mails received or sent by any covered agency official after January 20, 2001 and before April 12, 2007," says the two-page memo, a copy of which was obtained Monday by The Examiner.

Waxman's Democratic staffers earlier sent out a letter demanding e-mails, but agencies reported back that the request was unclear. "The following instructions provide additional guidance on complying with the committee's request," states the new memo, which was sent by e-mail on April 20.

Waxman has used his committee to launch a series of investigations into the Bush administration. In this case, his staff is investigating whether political appointees violated the Presidential Records Act by avoiding government e-mails, which are archived, and using private e-mail accounts provided by the Republican National Committee. The act requires that sufficient e-mails be retained to adequately document an issue.



Read more: http://www.examiner.com/printa-714791~House_memo_targets_Rove_e-mails.html

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previous link:

Waxman Jumps On Report Of White House Political Briefings

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) responded to a report in today's Washington Post regarding White House political briefings for federal agencies by sending a letter to these agencies requesting details on the sessions. Here's a copy of the letter Waxman sent out today to 15 agencies. This one went to Commerce Secretary Carlos Guttierez, but they're all pretty much the same:

"I am writing to request information about political briefings given by White House officials to federal agency officials.

~snip~

To assist with the Committee’s continuing investigation of this issue, I request that you provide information about any briefing mentioning elections or candidates provided to agency employees by officials in the White House between January 20, 2001, and April 26, 2007. Please provide the dates, times, attendees, and locations of these briefings, as well as any communications and documents relating to the briefings. Please provide these materials to the Committee by May 18, 2007.

I wrote to you earlier this month requesting that your agency preserve and inventory all e-mails sent between White House officials and agency employees through accounts controlled by the Republican National Committee or other nongovernmental entities. At the request of the White House Counsel, I am postponing temporarily the deadline for responding to the Committee’s request. This postponement will last for two weeks, extending the deadline for response to the letter to May 18, 2007. The Committee’s postponement does not apply to the request that you take steps to preserve such e-mails.

Please note that you should not review or search the e-mails of the Office of the Inspector General in responding to the Committee’s request regarding RNC and other nongovernmental e-mails. Such action would be inappropriate because it would impinge on the statutory independence of the Inspectors General and the confidentiality of investigative communications. All copies of documents previously collected from the Office of the Inspector General pursuant to the Committee’s request should be returned to that office immediately."

more:http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2825059

[Up2Late]

1. Oh, I can almost hear Sean Hannity whining already about...

...the dates. Something like "Why stop at January 20, 2001? Why not search back to the Clinton e-mails too? :cry:

[rodeodance]

2. delay strategies (just like Condi is doing)