THIS WEEK in review: White House Says It Destroyed Hard Drives = CREW v. EOP

[L. Coyote]

Context, context, context:

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White House Says It Destroyed Hard Drives
Saturday, March 22, 2008; Page A02 - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/21/AR2008032102973.html

Older White House computer hard drives have been destroyed, the White House told a federal court yesterday, and some, but not necessarily all, of the data on those hard drives was moved to new ones.

The White House revealed the information about how it handles its computers in an effort to convince a federal magistrate that it would be fruitless to undertake a plan proposed by the court to recover millions of possibly missing e-mails from 2003 to 2005.

It would be costly and time-consuming for the White House to institute an e-mail retrieval program that entails pulling data off each individual workstation, the White House said in a sworn declaration filed with U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola. .........

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Federal magistrate orders White House response on e-mail backups
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/31295

20 Mar 2008 // US Magistrate Judge John Facciola Tuesday ordered the White House to explain why it should not be required to create forensic copies of all e-mails passed through computers in the Executive Office of the President between March 2003 to October 2005. In his order, Facciola referred to a January admission by the White House that it had recycled back-up computer tapes of e-mails prior to October 2003, meaning that some of the e-mails may be lost, and suggested that an order to create duplicates would prevent similar losses in the future. White House officials have until Friday to respond. ..........

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CREW FILES RESPONSE TO WHITE HOUSE DEFENSE AGAINST REQUEST FOR CONTEMPT CHARGES IN MISSING EMAIL LAWSUIT
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/31291

19 Mar 2008 // Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a reply brief in support of its motion to show cause why a number of White House officials should not be held in contempt in CREW v. EOP. CREW has requested that the Court hold the defendants in civil contempt based on their filing a false, misleading and incomplete sworn declaration to answer four questions posed by the Court.

In response, the White House argued in part that it met its obligations simply by the filing of a declaration and that any falsehoods were "wholly irrelevant" to the Court's four questions, aimed at determining whether the preservation order should be broadened.

CREW once again pointed out that the White House's response that the back-up copies are complete and should contain all the missing emails is demonstrably false. ...............

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COURT GIVES WHITE HOUSE THREE DAYS TO SAY WHY IT SHOULD NOT BE ORDERED TO CREATE COPIES OF MEDIA THAT MAY CONTAIN MISSING EMAIL
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/31283

18 Mar 2008 // Today, in response to a request by the National Security Archive, which along with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has sued the White House challenging its failure to preserve millions of missing email, Magistrate Judge Facciola issued a show cause order in CREW, et al. v. EOP.

Judge Facciola's order requires the White House to show cause by close of business Friday, March 21, why it should not be ordered to create and preserve a forensic copy of any media that has been used or is being used by any former or current employee between March 2003 and October 2005, the period of time for which email is missing.

He entered the Order based at least in part on the White House's own admission that it did not preserve back-up tapes prior to October 2003.

3/18/08 - Order = http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/31282 .....

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HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM RELEASES REPORT ON WHITE HOUSE EMAIL
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/31135

26 Feb 2008 // Today, the House Committee on Oversight and Government reform released a report which includes supplemental information about the missing White House email, in advance of today's hearing where the Committee would hear testimony from White House officials.

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Related to HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM RELEASES REPORT ON WHITE HOUSE EMAIL
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/31135/related#content_attachment

Related CREW Activities - Related Documents - Related News Coverage - Related Multimedia

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One year ago the story broke.
Follow the DU threads from this compilation:
Email-Gate FACTS: Felons, georgewbush.com, gwb43.com , et. al.
Mar-28-07 http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x523978

[L. Coyote]

1. CREW Chief Counsel Anne Weismann talks about the missing White House emails

CREW Chief Counsel Anne Weismann talks about the missing White House emails

PLAY = http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/30802
OR Download the KPFA.mp3

[L. Coyote]

2. CREW Calls on FBI to Investigate White House Destruction of E-mails

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2008 - http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0312-02.htm

CREW Calls on FBI to Investigate White House Destruction of E-mails -- Including Plame Wilson Discussions

WASHINGTON, DC - March 12 - Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) called on FBI Direct Robert S. Mueller to open an investigation into whether White House officials obstructed justice by destroying documents relevant to the criminal investigation into the leak of Valerie Plame Wilson's covert CIA identity. CREW's request relies in large part on evidence recently disclosed by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which documents that for the period September 30 through October 6, 2003, there were no e-mails for the entire Office of the Vice President (OVP) on either the White House servers or on a back-up tape created on October 21, 2003, with the exception of e-mails that had not yet been erased from individual OVP employee mailboxes. According to a declaration submitted by the Office of Administration’s Chief Information Officer in CREW v. EOP, the practice at the White House since 2003 has been to make copies of all e-mails through a journaling function of Microsoft Exchange and store those journaled e-mails in .pst files on White House servers. Yet when OA employees sought to find OVP e-mails in response to a subpoena from Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, there were no journaled e-mails on either the servers or a back-up tape for a critical period just after the Department of Justice had opened its criminal investigation and the White House had been ordered to preserve all potentially relevant documents.

On February 4, 2008, CREW had asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to appoint a special prosecutor to look into the disappearance of millions of White House e-mails, but the Department disregarded that request, instead sending a form letter suggesting that CREW contact the FBI with any information about possible crimes. Previously, CREW had brought evidence concerning former Rep. Mark Foley's (R-FL) possible sexual exploitation of teenage pages to the FBI, but the agency failed to investigate the matter and later lied about the evidence CREW had provided, as an internal investigation by DOJ's inspector general confirmed. As a result, CREW has little confidence that the FBI will take today’s request seriously either.

CREW’s chief counsel, Anne Weismann said today, “There is now credible evidence that someone in the White House may have obstructed justice by destroying documents related to the leak of Ms. Wilson’s identity. Confronted with this evidence, the FBI, as the nation’s top law enforcement authority, has an obligation to investigate.”

[Octafish]

3. Smirko remembers 'Nixon's Mistake.'

Tricky Dick didn't burn the tapes.

Of course, he was told advised not to.

Today's incarnation of that evil, has destroyed evidence in order to obstruct justice.

Thank you for another excellent post, L. Coyote! KRB

[L. Coyote]

4. Nixon lacked complicitous Rs in Congress. His party sent him packing

or at least they made it appear that way.

What Nixon engineered as part of his beach-front retirement package was "retroactive immunity for unnamed crimes."

Sound familiar! Bush wants the same w/o a ticket to the ranch, or the Farm!

[L. Coyote]

5. visibility kick

[bean fidhleir]

6. There would be NO TECHNICAL REASON for destroying hard drives

HDs come in 3 speeds -5000, 7500, and 10000 rpm- and 3 connection types -PATA (the most common), SCSI (the most technical and least likely to be in the WH), and SATA (the new standard)-

All drives work fine for ordinary business use. There is NO LEGITIMATE REASON for destroying them.