White House wins court fight on e-mail disclosure

**Jason** · 05-20-2009, 09:48 AM

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the office that has records about millions of possibly missing e-mails from the Bush White House does not have to make them public.

The appeals court in Washington ruled that the White House Office of Administration is not an agency subject to the Freedom of Information Act, allowing the White House to keep secret documents about an e-mail system that has been plagued with problems.

During its first term, the Bush White House failed to install electronic record-keeping for e-mail when it switched to a new system, resulting in millions of messages that could not be found. The Bush White House discovered the problem in 2005 and rejected a proposed solution.

A group known as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued to get documents about the office's electronic record-keeping, including reports analyzing system problems, plans to find the missing e-mails and create an improved system and records of any retained messages.

In response to court orders in the case, the White House disclosed that it has located nearly 3,500 pages of documents about problems with its e-mail system. But the Bush administration argued in this case for the first time that the office's records are not subject to public disclosure, even though it had responded to hundreds of other FOIA requests in the past decade and even included instructions on its Web site for filing them.

A lower court sided with the Bush administration last June, and Tuesday's opinion upheld that order.

"We conclude that the Office of Administration is not (subject to FOIA requests) because it performs only operational and administrative tasks in support of the president and his staff and therefore, under our precedent, lacks substantial independent authority," the three-judge panel said in its opinion.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...MZYowD989E1I80

**40sondacurb** · 05-20-2009, 01:55 PM

a bellwether for the Abu photos?

yustr · 05-20-2009, 08:17 PM

Remind me again who they work for?

bry623 · 05-21-2009, 06:38 AM

I don't want to see any emails from anybody's administration. Ignorance is bliss.

RedScott · 05-21-2009, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bry623

Ignorance is bliss.

The Republican mantra.

05-20-2009, 09:48 AM	#1 (permalink)
Jason Faugh a ballagh Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Pasco, FL Posts: 8,476 OS: Windows Vista My System Blog Entries: 2	White House wins court fight on e-mail disclosure WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the office that has records about millions of possibly missing e-mails from the Bush White House does not have to make them public. The appeals court in Washington ruled that the White House Office of Administration is not an agency subject to the Freedom of Information Act, allowing the White House to keep secret documents about an e-mail system that has been plagued with problems. During its first term, the Bush White House failed to install electronic record-keeping for e-mail when it switched to a new system, resulting in millions of messages that could not be found. The Bush White House discovered the problem in 2005 and rejected a proposed solution. A group known as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued to get documents about the office's electronic record-keeping, including reports analyzing system problems, plans to find the missing e-mails and create an improved system and records of any retained messages. In response to court orders in the case, the White House disclosed that it has located nearly 3,500 pages of documents about problems with its e-mail system. But the Bush administration argued in this case for the first time that the office's records are not subject to public disclosure, even though it had responded to hundreds of other FOIA requests in the past decade and even included instructions on its Web site for filing them. A lower court sided with the Bush administration last June, and Tuesday's opinion upheld that order. "We conclude that the Office of Administration is not (subject to FOIA requests) because it performs only operational and administrative tasks in support of the president and his staff and therefore, under our precedent, lacks substantial independent authority," the three-judge panel said in its opinion. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...MZYowD989E1I80 __________________ Posting Tips \| Advice for New People \| Common Fixes \| Agus na damnaithe fágtha gan focal Glaoigh ormsa i measc na naomh

05-20-2009, 01:55 PM	#2 (permalink)
40sondacurb Don't be a menace Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 6,285 OS: Vista sp2	Re: White House wins court fight on e-mail disclosure a bellwether for the Abu photos? __________________ Donate to keep the forum running

05-20-2009, 08:17 PM	#3 (permalink)
yustr Asst. Manager, The Conversation Pit Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Connecticut shore Posts: 6,050 OS: XP Pro My System	Re: White House wins court fight on e-mail disclosure Remind me again who they work for? __________________ If there are lawyers or politicians involved, logic may be a very poor tool for reaching a conclusion.

05-21-2009, 06:38 AM	#4 (permalink)
bry623 Manager, The Conversation Pit/Analyst, Security Team Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: NW Territory circa 1787 Posts: 11,692 OS: winxp pro sp2	Re: White House wins court fight on e-mail disclosure I don't want to see any emails from anybody's administration. Ignorance is bliss. __________________ "If you aren't a liberal when you're 20, you have no heart. If you aren't a conservative when you are 50, you have no brain"