Missing White House e-mails

[DroppinScience]

To me, this shit is just like that "missing" 18-minute gap from the Watergate tapes.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/21-15

ublished on Thursday, August 21, 2008 by Associated Press
White House May Have Lost 7 Months of E-mail Since 2003

by Pete Yost

WASHINGTON - The White House is missing as many as 225 days of e-mail dating back to 2003, and there is little likelihood that a recovery effort will be completed by the time President Bush leaves office, according to an internal White House draft document obtained by the Associated Press.

The nine-page outline of the White House's e-mail problems invites companies to bid on a project to recover the missing electronic messages.

The work would be carried out through April 19, 2009, according to the Office of Administration request for contractors' proposals dated June 20. The new president will be inaugurated three months before that completion date.

Last week, the White House declined to comment on the document. On Wednesday, the White House refused to discuss internal contracting procedures but said the information was "outdated and seriously inaccurate." It would not elaborate. Nor would it say whether anyone had been hired.

"With an eye on the clock, the White House continues to drag its feet and do everything possible to postpone public access to the records of this presidency," said Anne L. Weismann, chief counsel of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a private watchdog group.

The draft document outlines a process in which private contractors would attempt to retrieve lost e-mail from 35,000 disaster recovery backup tapes dating to October 2003, a period covering such events as growing violence in Iraq, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and the criminal inquiry into the disclosure that Valerie Plame, wife of an administration critic, worked for the CIA.

The recovery project would not use backup tapes going back to March 2003, according to the draft document, even though an earlier White House assessment suggested that e-mail was missing from that period as well.

Industry experts point out that relying on the backup system to ensure accurate retention, preservation and retrieval of all e-mail is problematic because it does not take into account deleted e-mail.

"A backup system isn't designed to be a 100% complete inventory of all e-mails," said William P. Lyons, chairman and chief executive of AXS-One, a provider of records compliance management solutions. "It's designed to make a copy of data at a specific point in time."

The White House draft document says the number of days of missing e-mail ranges from 25 to 225, a range that industry experts say would make it difficult to bid on a recovery project.

"Generally, when the scope of the work is expected to fluctuate by a factor of nearly 10, I can only take you so seriously," said Steven L. Schooner, co-director of the government procurement law program at George Washington University.

At a hearing on Capitol Hill in February, the White House told Congress it was trying to determine how many e-mail messages were missing.

[King PSYZ]

It feels like it because it is, the only thing that makes it worse is one there's no reason or probable excuse and we knew better from watergate to not let this happen.

[kaiser soze]

How convenient....but I can bet they have EVERYONE elses emails (n)

So what should this be considered? Conspiracy? Contempt? Obstruction of Justice?

why does bush and co. hate America?

[DroppinScience]

It feels like it because it is, the only thing that makes it worse is one there's no reason or probable excuse and we knew better from watergate to not let this happen.

See in those days there at least was an interest in holding leaders to account by the Democrats. Today, they're not even going to pretend to try to use congressional oversight.

Unbelievable.

[NoFenders]

If you think we'll ever know everything about everything in this world you're mistaken. No matter who sits in the big chair, the public will be left out of many things. There's a lot that most can't handle. It keeps most from going insane. Sweeping things under the rug isn't uncommon. You'd probably be better off not knowing what was swept away.

:cool:

[QueenAdrock]

You'd probably be better off not knowing what was swept away.

Yes, we're all well aware of your 'ignorance is bliss' mentality.

[NoFenders]

What is it with you??

You're starting to worry me with your obsessions.

:cool:

[abcdefz]

I gotta agree that this missing e-mail stuff is bullshit. Any decent administrator is going to have backups on all this stuff, let alone something
as important as government e-mail.

[NoFenders]

I totally agree that it's bullshit. But there's piles and piles of other documents/e-mails/contracts that are discarded to protect the innocent. Is it right?? No. Is it understandable, sort of. Is there anything to gain besides an " I told ya so"? Not really. So in the long run, these things happen every day, it's just we know about this. Who knows, maybe this is a decoy for a bigger cover up. It could go and on. It could turn out to be GW's porn stash.

:cool:

[yeahwho]

It's something I like to call a crock of shit. Even when I delete my emails a folder still holds the deleted emails, then when I delete onsite folder a server has them held in some low security building in Sunnyvale CA.

How unfortunate the most powerful man on the Planet Earth is unable to keep his email straight.

Check out whois.com (http://www.whois.sc/) it will tell you where every server you visit is located.

There are so many ways to trace, interface, duplicate and replicate digital information that sometimes I wonder why I even bother having a nom de plume on the internet. Stuff can be found.

[DroppinScience]

If you think we'll ever know everything about everything in this world you're mistaken. No matter who sits in the big chair, the public will be left out of many things. There's a lot that most can't handle. It keeps most from going insane. Sweeping things under the rug isn't uncommon. You'd probably be better off not knowing what was swept away.

:cool:

For starters, the truth DOES come out one way or another eventually. Sometimes it takes a long time, but it's inevitable. As long as there are historians and good investigative journalists, you can always get to the bottom of it.

Next off, I have to laugh at your "you can't handle the truth" passivity and acceptance (to the point where you even seem to welcome it) of something rotten at the core at the state of things and wanting to leave well enough alone. You know that in a democracy the public has a right to know about what the government is doing, right? After all, they voted them in, right? Your behavior is literally no different from the current young generation of Chinese who are apathetic and passive about living under a brutal dictatorship (they don't even know what happened at Tianeman Square). I know you think the USA is the best country to have ever existed. Going by that, I thought you would care more about what happens to it and wanting to actually maintain its democracy. I guess I should have known better.

[yeahwho]

For starters, the truth DOES come out one way or another eventually. Sometimes it takes a long time, but it's inevitable. As long as there are historians and good investigative journalists, you can always get to the bottom of it.

The only way to surmise the truth is to question the credibility of information. As much as I disagree with the majority of conspiracy theorists on this board I still in the end would like to have some sort of credible explanation for why the obviousness of why a mistake was made. That's my motherfucking money too. I want accountability and a representative democracy, with transparency, not hidden truths. Maybe the fact that absolute immunity (http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hYwGLaLYgKf3XmQNDdjznyv9ocwA) turns out to be not so absolute is starting to bug this White House.

One of a thousand or so good reasons to not have electronic documentation stored on servers.

[kaiser soze]

It is not just the emails but the attitude surrounding their missing, accountability is not in this administration's dictionary.

[NoFenders]

For starters, the truth DOES come out one way or another eventually. Sometimes it takes a long time, but it's inevitable. As long as there are historians and good investigative journalists, you can always get to the bottom of it.

You're saying the truth always comes out?? Sorry to tell ya bud, but you don't know everything about everything. There's miles of stories your ears will never hear and your eyes will never read. Why?? Becasue they want it that way. You don't believe that?? Then you're more clueless than you make me out to be.


Next off, I have to laugh at your "you can't handle the truth" passivity and acceptance (to the point where you even seem to welcome it) of something rotten at the core at the state of things and wanting to leave well enough alone. You know that in a democracy the public has a right to know about what the government is doing, right? After all, they voted them in, right? Your behavior is literally no different from the current young generation of Chinese who are apathetic and passive about living under a brutal dictatorship (they don't even know what happened at Tianeman Square). I know you think the USA is the best country to have ever existed. Going by that, I thought you would care more about what happens to it and wanting to actually maintain its democracy. I guess I should have known better.

Maybe if you actaully read posts you wouldn't put your foot your mouth so much. I've stated that I thought it was bullshit. But that doesn't fit into your idea of who I am. So you can run with it all ya want.

If you honestly think you'll know about everything that's ever been covered up, you're really in a dream land. We've got a police officer here in the burbs that most likely killed his second wife. His first wife is considered a homicide too. I think he covered something up, and hopefuly in a case like a degenerate cop who also is a murderer, the investigation will go on and the truth will come out. But guess what, there's a good chance it wont. That's just the way it is. JFK. Who shot him? Hoffa. Where did he go? These are bigger things than electronic messages/letters. So, if those things can be covered up and basically forgotten, why do you think everything else wouldn't?? I'm not saying I agree that the public should be left in the dark about everything. So don't think I'd enjoy China. However, not everyone can see the truth for what it is like you. Again, I do not agree that things should be hidden from us. But I do understand the basic fact that a lot of stuff our country has done is for the better for our people (not grouping Hoffa and JFK in this). Some good, some bad. I'm ok with it. I am smart enough to know that I will not know everything about everything. Some e-mails lost are not going to disrupt my view on where I am and where I'm going. I realise that the people running this country are doing their job, and their job consists of keeping me safe. Doing things the public wouldn't agree with (as far as dirty deeds) is understandable since the public doesn't know what DC knows. We give them the power to make those decisions. Not to call us when a decision needs to be made. Bottom line is, you'll never know half of what they allow you to know, mush less what they don't want you to know. Plain and simple. Don't kid yourself.

:cool:

[abcdefz]

You're saying the truth always comes out?? Sorry to tell ya bud, but you don't know everything about everything. There's miles of stories your ears will never hear and your eyes will never read. Why?? Becasue they want it that way. You don't believe that?? Then you're more clueless than you make me out to be.



Maybe if you actaully read posts you wouldn't put your foot your mouth so much. I've stated that I thought it was bullshit. But that doesn't fit into your idea of who I am. So you can run with it all ya want.

If you honestly think you'll know about everything that's ever been covered up, you're really in a dream land. We've got a police officer here in the burbs that most likely killed his second wife. His first wife is considered a homicide too. I think he covered something up, and hopefuly in a case like a degenerate cop who also is a murderer, the investigation will go on and the truth will come out. But guess what, there's a good chance it wont. That's just the way it is. JFK. Who shot him? Hoffa. Where did he go? These are bigger things than electronic messages/letters. So, if those things can be covered up and basically forgotten, why do you think everything else wouldn't?? I'm not saying I agree that the public should be left in the dark about everything. So don't think I'd enjoy China. However, not everyone can see the truth for what it is like you. Again, I do not agree that things should be hidden from us. But I do understand the basic fact that a lot of stuff our country has done is for the better for our people (not grouping Hoffa and JFK in this). Some good, some bad. I'm ok with it. I am smart enough to know that I will not know everything about everything. Some e-mails lost are not going to disrupt my view on where I am and where I'm going. I realise that the people running this country are doing their job, and their job consists of keeping me safe. Doing things the public wouldn't agree with (as far as dirty deeds) is understandable since the public doesn't know what DC knows. We give them the power to make those decisions. Not to call us when a decision needs to be made. Bottom line is, you'll never know half of what they allow you to know, mush less what they don't want you to know. Plain and simple. Don't kid yourself.

:cool:




..he said, knowingly.

[NoFenders]

Kinda common sense if ya ask me.

:cool:

[DroppinScience]

That's just the way it is. JFK. Who shot him? Hoffa. Where did he go? These are bigger things than electronic messages/letters. So, if those things can be covered up and basically forgotten, why do you think everything else wouldn't??

Jimmy Hoffa killed JFK? Wow, you're even more deranged than I thought. Thanks for giving me yet another reason to not take you seriously.

[NoFenders]

That's your twisted head making that assumption.

But hey, thanks for not twisting my entire post. You're really getting better. (y)

:cool: