Parallel Lines
Keeping White House doings completely hidden from view has been a hallmark of this administration right from the start. Congress has just discovered that the White House found some medium tech tools to further that opacity: separate email accounts run through the Republican National Committee and therefore not subject to federal records laws. The Los Angeles Times, while a little late to the dance (bloggers have known about this separate system for weeks), published an article today that does bring the story up to date.
When Karl Rove and his top deputies arrived at the White House in 2001, the Republican National Committee provided them with laptop computers and other communication devices to be used alongside their government-issued equipment.
The back-channel e-mail and paging system, paid for and maintained by the RNC, was designed to avoid charges that had vexed the Clinton White House — that federal resources were being used inappropriately for political campaign purposes.
Now, that dual computer system is creating new embarrassment and legal headaches for the White House, the Republican Party and Rove's once-vaunted White House operation.
Democrats say evidence suggests the RNC e-mail system was used for political and government policy matters in violation of federal record preservation and disclosure rules.
In addition, Democrats point to a handful of e-mails obtained through ongoing inquiries suggesting the system may have been used to conceal such activities as contacts with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was convicted on bribery charges and is now in prison for fraud.
The article mentions that this parallel system, a "party line" if you will, was also used a few times in connection with the mass firing of eight US Attorneys.
Now, that this separate system was instituted is not necessarily illegal. As the article points out, the Clinton White House installed a similar system after complaints that his administration was using federal property for political purposes. However, given this administration's track record, it's easy to think the worst, especially since investigations have already found evidence that the RNC line was used in 'government' activities.
It isn't too hard to imagine that Karl Rove and his associates quickly discovered a handy use for the parallel system, one that would not be easily discoverable by anyone with the temerity to investigate the White House. Besides, there were some bonuses to the use of such a system run by the RNC:
Some Republican activists say the e-mail request will not create great difficulty for the White House because nothing nefarious happened and because the RNC automatically purges some e-mails after 30 days. [Emphasis added]
Fortunately, other parties accessing that system at the other end weren't quite so efficient. Rep. Henry Waxman and his committee shouldn't have all that much trouble putting things together.
More popcorn, please.
When Karl Rove and his top deputies arrived at the White House in 2001, the Republican National Committee provided them with laptop computers and other communication devices to be used alongside their government-issued equipment.
The back-channel e-mail and paging system, paid for and maintained by the RNC, was designed to avoid charges that had vexed the Clinton White House — that federal resources were being used inappropriately for political campaign purposes.
Now, that dual computer system is creating new embarrassment and legal headaches for the White House, the Republican Party and Rove's once-vaunted White House operation.
Democrats say evidence suggests the RNC e-mail system was used for political and government policy matters in violation of federal record preservation and disclosure rules.
In addition, Democrats point to a handful of e-mails obtained through ongoing inquiries suggesting the system may have been used to conceal such activities as contacts with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was convicted on bribery charges and is now in prison for fraud.
The article mentions that this parallel system, a "party line" if you will, was also used a few times in connection with the mass firing of eight US Attorneys.
Now, that this separate system was instituted is not necessarily illegal. As the article points out, the Clinton White House installed a similar system after complaints that his administration was using federal property for political purposes. However, given this administration's track record, it's easy to think the worst, especially since investigations have already found evidence that the RNC line was used in 'government' activities.
It isn't too hard to imagine that Karl Rove and his associates quickly discovered a handy use for the parallel system, one that would not be easily discoverable by anyone with the temerity to investigate the White House. Besides, there were some bonuses to the use of such a system run by the RNC:
Some Republican activists say the e-mail request will not create great difficulty for the White House because nothing nefarious happened and because the RNC automatically purges some e-mails after 30 days. [Emphasis added]
Fortunately, other parties accessing that system at the other end weren't quite so efficient. Rep. Henry Waxman and his committee shouldn't have all that much trouble putting things together.
More popcorn, please.
Labels: Dirty Tricks
posted by Diane at 3:29 AM
1 Comments:
When Karl Rove and his top deputies arrived at the White House in 2001, the Republican National Committee provided them with laptop computers and other communication devices to be used alongside their government-issued equipment.
*
mebbe that was part of the hue and cry over lost w keys.
Make a lot of noise about diabled computers and no one questions why you have to haul in all these new laptops etc.
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