White House ‘reused e-mail tapes.’
By on Jan 16th, 2008 at 10:42 am
White House ‘reused e-mail tapes.’
AP reports:
The White House has acknowledged recycling its backup computer tapes of e-mail before October 2003, raising the possibility that many electronic messages — including those pertaining to the CIA leak case — have been taped over and are gone forever.
The disclosure came minutes before midnight Tuesday under a court-ordered deadline that forced the White House to reveal information it has previously refused to provide. [...]
If the e-mails were not saved, the White House might have violated two laws requiring preservation of documents that fall into the categories of federal records or presidential records.
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Cover-up. What does the WH haver to hide?
January 16th, 2008 at 10:43 amSo, can we impeach these MF’ers NOW????
January 16th, 2008 at 10:44 amIts nice to see the WH has a recycling policy.
January 16th, 2008 at 10:46 amOpps.
January 16th, 2008 at 10:47 amTREASON! IMPEACH! TREASON! IMPEACH!
January 16th, 2008 at 10:50 amUh-oh… looks like someone’s going to get a sternly-worded letter…
January 16th, 2008 at 10:50 amthose tapes are expensive. Gotta balance the budget somehow!
January 16th, 2008 at 10:51 amWhat the hell diffrence does it make, we all know bush/ cheney and all this administration are murderer’s lier’s and thieve’s…The Dem’s aren’t going to do a damn thing about it except let the clock run out, my guess many of them are not just enabeler’s but just as guilty..
Untill more people are ready to storm D.C and take our country back there is no point in even watching this distruction of our country and constitution….Untill bush and cheney are caught on major media new’s screwing little boy’s on the white house lawn the sleepy nation is going to keep them……Blessings
January 16th, 2008 at 10:52 amWow ! Someone in the WH staff came up with a very clever idea. Guess all the sharp pencils haven’t left yet.
January 16th, 2008 at 10:52 amSupport the Impeachment of Dick Cheney!
Today is National Call-In Day
The call is FREE and only takes a minute of your time.
1-800-828-0498 (White House Switchboard, ask to be connected to your Rep.)
Tell your Representative to support HR 333 The Impeachment of Dick Cheney!
If you’re more ambitious call the members of the House Judiciary Committee (found here: http://judiciary.house.gov/CommitteeMembership.aspx)
January 16th, 2008 at 10:52 ammessages gone forever.
Is anyone surprised by this? If so, then you’ve been sleeping for the last 7 years.
January 16th, 2008 at 10:56 amOkay, these are backups before October 2003.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but files were being archived using a Clinton-era legacy system (that had been mandated by the 1990’s Dan Burton investigation) up until about that time. Which would mean that there is something other than a “backup” that probably exists for the pre-October 03 files.
Appears to me they’re playing word games again.
January 16th, 2008 at 10:57 amThe Dem’s aren’t going to do a damn thing about it except let the clock run out, my guess many of them are not just enabeler’s but just as guilty…
Right-eeee-o! Ding, ding, ding…we have a winner. The Dims have controlled at LEAST the agenda of Congress for almost two years. If th fascist agenda hasn’t been stymied by now, it is because the Dims are AT LEAST sympathetic–and, with Reid and Pelosi leading the way, followed closely by the likes of Jane Harman–probably enthusiastic, about it.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:00 amBy the way, one does not have to ‘iimpeach’ traitors.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:02 amAll tha is necessary is to arrest, try, condemn, and dispatch ‘em.
Cf., the Rosenbergs…
So the next question should be, “Who made the decision to reuse the tapes?”
Of course, nobody will remember…
My best hope is that the person who is ultimately picked to be thrown under the bus for this one will decide it’s not worth protecting these criminals, and start talking fast and furious. In this instance, conditional immunity might be a worthy consideration, if it leads up the ladder quickly.
(I can dream can’t I?)
January 16th, 2008 at 11:04 am2 thoughts:
1) Erased tapes. Where have I heard that one before ? Will we get pictures of Nixon’s secretary again.
2) Computer administration: Isn’t it standard policy to make periodic backups on pristine tapes ? (As tapes are a mechanical device not to mention that the oxide layer starts falling off the polymer layer with heavy use ) ??>
January 16th, 2008 at 11:06 amWell, there they go again — the Bushniks taking a page right from the Nixon playbook, taping over or erasing tapes…
Interesting thing is that the way the WH’s admission that it “re-used” tapes is an absolute admission that not only did it violate the law — it did so with the intent required to prompt a criminal investigation. After all, in this era of high computer technology, who reuses tapes or discs or other recordable media instead of using new ones — unless they’re (a) too poor to afford new ones, or (b) trying to cover up something that’s on the originals?
Just get it over with — throw these crooks in jail so we can get on with restoring our country.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:09 amGee, that’s exactly what happened to all the records of the Presidential election in Ohio in 2004. What an incredible coincidence!
/bitter sarcasm, alas
January 16th, 2008 at 11:09 am‘Cheney’s Law’ was rerun on PBS last night. If you haven’t seen it, it’s well worth the time.
I smell Addington all over this missing e-mails. He’s Cheney’s biggest enabler, wrote Bush’s first signing statements and is the ‘go to’ guy for nefarious purposes.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:09 amIf the e-mails were not saved, the White House might have violated two laws requiring preservation of documents that fall into the categories of federal records or presidential records.
So what ?
Big shit ……..What’s 2 more after already breaking 400 others ?
This presidency is the biggest travesty ever foisted upon this country and its citizens ; everyone that has been involved , including Dems that have been complicit throughout , deserves to be treated and tried as an enemy of the US…….
January 16th, 2008 at 11:09 am“the White House might have violated two laws requiring preservation of documents ”
MIGHT have ??? Where’s the doubt? The law required their preservation, yet they were destroyed. This is a clear violation.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:13 amMessages probably gone forever. But taped over? Another lie I’m sure.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:15 amDon’t our patriotic friends over at AT&T have all the needed e-mails? They’ve been intercepting/storing all electronic traffic since early 2001 haven’t they?
January 16th, 2008 at 11:16 amMaybe if we offer to pay the FBI’s bill for them they’ll let us have copies of all those missing WH e-mails. They should at least have access to the e-mails that were sent using the RNC servers. I can dream too, can’t I?
#13, take it easy, Dems have held the gavel for less than a year. Yes, the performance leaves a lot to be desired, but its still a vast improvement over the “do nothing” congress it replaced. The record use of the minority filibuster by Republicans notwithstanding.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:17 amIt is time to bring this government down. Bush is nothing more than a common criminal. Why should any of us respect the law when it clearly does not apply to Bush and his base? (The have’s and have’s more)
January 16th, 2008 at 11:19 amI have been a prosecutor and this just makes me sick. The constant, lame excuses for committing major felonies. The consistent covering up of evidence of substantive crimes. The record preservation laws are there for a specific purpose, to prevent human filth such as Bush and his henchmen from getting away scott free by hiding the evidence. If the proper authorities will not uphold the law, it is damn well time for the people to seek retribution.
Another great online-viewable Cheney backgrounder is from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s “Fifth Estate” program. The Canadian version of Frontline.
See it here: http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/dickcheney/.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:21 amHow about in the future?
I am just kind of wondering if maybe the Congress and perhaps the Courts should be getting backups of all Emails from Executive Dept, beforehand only to be opened up if there are situations like this where you can’t trust the President and his Staff.
makes sense to me.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:21 amDon’t our patriotic friends over at AT&T have all the needed e-mails? Comment by A Patriot Acting
Just the fact that they say they are gone is a lie…….they exist and can be retrieved. Someone has to want to do it though.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:22 amWhat it comes down to really is this:
The Presidential Records Act was passed by Congress in the 1970’s. Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I and Clinton all followed it.
But the present Administration (Cheney/Addington) believe that Congress cannot pass laws that affect the Executive Branch in any way, so they have chosen to ignore that law.
Cheney and Addington don’t want to have to make that argument in the open (since it’s laughable) so they’ve been delaying, stonewalling, etc.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:23 amCan’t wait to hear the spin on this one. How will they defend it?
January 16th, 2008 at 11:23 amCan’t wait to hear the spin on this one. How will they defend it?
Comment by cynicalgirl — January 16, 2008 @ 11:23 am
blah, blah, blah, 911, blah blah, blah, national security, blah, blah, blah, executive privelege, blah, blah, blah, blame America first Democrats, blah, blah, blah, not surrender, blah, blah, blah
January 16th, 2008 at 11:32 amCan’t wait to hear the spin on this one. How will they defend it?
Comment by cynicalgirl
“Oops.”
or
“My bad!”
January 16th, 2008 at 11:33 amAnd now for a few words from an IT professional:
January 16th, 2008 at 11:35 amYou have to re-write over stored data seven times to completely destroy it.
If it is only written over once, as this article claims, then the previous data a.k.a. evidence is still retrievable.
They revealed minutes before the deadline that they’ve been doing this since 2003? Back-ups just happen to overwrite email relevant to an invetigation?
January 16th, 2008 at 11:39 amYeah, right.
My dog ate my 1040 at 11pm 4/14. Oh, and my W2 and all my employers payroll records and the accountants’ and then he was eaten by a wolverene-puma-bigfoot. It was unavoidable and as soon as I find that thing that ate my dog which ate the forms, I’ll comply with the law. Wish me luck. It’s probably on the golf course with the killers OJ is hunting.
And now for a few words from an IT professional:
You have to re-write over stored data seven times to completely destroy it.
If it is only written over once, as this article claims, then the previous data a.k.a. evidence is still retrievable.
Comment by OxyCon
Not only that….there are uncorrupted copies of all of this….emails are routed all over and a copy is at each point…..no one is interested yet or they would have these emails.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:39 amI don’t know why anyone even reports this. “White House Breaks Law” is not a headline, it’s more like diary entry for yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
If a crime is committed by the White House, but 435 members of the United States House of Representatives and 100 members of the United States Senate refuse to hear it or see it, then there’s really no crime committed.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:45 amIf a BushitCo criminal breaks a law and nobody in Congress is paying any attention, does it make a dull roaring thud in my ears?
January 16th, 2008 at 11:58 amImpeachment is “OFF THE TABLE” because we Democrats don’t have the spine to stand up and protect our Constitution even though we swore to protect and defend it from ALL enemies Foreign and Domestic.
-Nancy Pelosi
January 16th, 2008 at 12:08 pmIncompetence is a lousy excuse for criminal destruction of records, and it is not acceptable. There must be accountability. They have defied the law and congress, they have dissed the public – and all for their own purposes.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:18 pmWe should not be surprised, however, not at their deliberate incompetence, nor their deliberate obstructionism, not at their defiant attitude of “so whaddya gonna do about it now?”
John Dean is right – this group is far worse than Watergate/Nixon White House. Impeachment is too good for them. Criminal court is more appropriate.
Next thing they’ll tell us is the internet is a series of tubes…. These emails are to be found on at least one of the many servers they must have gone through, as many in the MSM have noted before. Do not give us, fairly intelligent people, this bs please.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:19 pmThe White House is in direct violation of the Federal Records Act. It’s as simple as that. Congress, make a stand for America and follow the laws.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:38 pmIf they get away with this then why would ANY president in the future EVER give ANY information up to investigators?
Written requests get laughed at.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:41 pmCourt orders get ignored.
Accountability has left the building.
Why not recycle their tapes? They have been recycling their lies for years!
January 16th, 2008 at 12:49 pmLIERS!!! TRAITORS!!!!!! CRIMINALS!!!!!!
January 16th, 2008 at 12:51 pmThese skunks are cunning, really. Now the tapes are not just erased, but overwritten. So now if the Senate tries to get the tapes to try and recover the overwritten data, they will be told by the White House that the existing emails on the tapes aren’t pertinent to the investigation so, therefore, they don’t have the right to read the tapes.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:53 pmCrime number 1,235,691.
Just what does it take to get these criminals Impeached? It seems they could slaughter babies and eat them on the White House lawn and nothing would come of it.
The media would ignore it, Bush/Cheney would tell America to go shopping, congress would put on the blinders, it is ridiculous that this is happening in this country.
We have been sold out to the highest corporate bidder and most of America does not care one bit.
Bush/Cheney
Hague Trials ‘09
Buck Fush
January 16th, 2008 at 1:19 pmThe Bush Crime Family has already violated hundreds of laws, what’s a few more to add to the mix. What is anyone going to do about it? Write a letter?
January 16th, 2008 at 1:21 pmProsecute!
January 16th, 2008 at 1:28 pmNow or in January 2009, prosecute!
January 16th, 2008 at 1:28 pmIF they’re telling the truth, and the data was taped over, then the old data is still there, underneath, WAITING to be RECOVERED.
Comment by BARTLEBEE
The judge in this case needs to demand that the Bush Crime Family turn these tapes over forthwith or they will be thrown in jail. Someone has to do something to stop these criminals. If it is a judge, then so be it. I would rather it be Congress, but I’ll take a judge.
January 16th, 2008 at 1:29 pmLike everyone else said, this is a load of bullshit. I work IT in a government agency, and they take backing up the data seriously here. Granted, we’re not under Cheney’s thumb and watchful eye, and we are one of the organizations that gets the job done (not very political here), but still. We’re dealing with the people’s data.
And if they can sniff child-porn off a formatted and rewritten hard-drive, I guarantee you they can sniff those e-mails off the tape.
Pardon me, I have something in my nose. Ah….Ahhhh….*BULL$#!+*
Sorry about that. ^_-
January 16th, 2008 at 1:44 pmPar for the course for Bush 2.0… they’ve made us so “scandal fatigue” that when I read stuff like this, I just shrug my shoulders and sigh.
Your former Republican strategist who’s turn PURPLE,
January 16th, 2008 at 1:46 pmMr. Purple
http://www.mrpurple2008.com
# 33 Oxycon:
Are you old enough to remember when Nixon’s secretary accidentally erased multiple times over the same tape ?
/snark NARF!
January 16th, 2008 at 4:33 pm