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CENSORSHIP News:

John McCain

Political

Media

Television

Censorship

2008 Election

"FOX Erases McCain Saying He "Really Didn't Love America"." ... "On March 13, 2008, FOX's Sean Hannity interviewed [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain for the full hour. The interview started with questions about McCain's time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. At one point, this was said: HANNITY: You spent two years of this five-and-a-half-year period in solitary confinement. What does that do to a person, to spend that much time in solitary confinement? MCCAIN: I think it makes you a better person. Obviously, it makes you love America. I really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company." ... "Get that? McCain "really didn't love America" until he was a POW." ... "Jedreport.com discovered that the transcript of the McCain/Hannity interview on FoxNews.com had no mention of McCain saying he "really didn't love America" until he was a POW. I checked and sure enough, it wasn't there. So I started watching the video of the interview of FoxNews.com — it wasn't there either." ... "FOX has completely erased the first segment to hide McCain's statement that he "really didn't love America"." ... "They [Rupert Murdoch's Fox News television stations] are the republican propaganda machine." ... "PS This isn't even the first time McCain has said he "didn't really love America" until he was a POW. He's been saying it for years." -YouTube user Jsjkim

WATCH "FOX Erases McCain Saying He "Really Didn't Love America""

Secret - Government - Intelligence - Terrorism - Politics - Illegal - Surveillance - Investigation - Internet - Archive - Library - Electronic - Civil Liberties - Brewster_Kahle - Censorship - San Francisco - California - Student - Health - Consumer - Telephone - Electronic - Data - National Security Letter - "FBI Targets Internet Archive With Secret 'National Security Letter', Loses." ... "The Internet Archive, a project to create a digital library of the web for posterity, successfully fought a secret government Patriot Act order for records about one of its patrons and won the right to make the order public, civil liberties groups announced Wednesday morning." ... "On November 26, 2007, the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] served a controversial National Security Letter (.pdf) on the Internet Archive's founder Brewster Kahle, asking for records about one of the library's registered users, asking for the user's name, address and activity on the site." ... "The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Internet Archive's lawyers, fought the NSL [National Security Letter], challenging its constitutionality in a December 14 complaint (.pdf) to a federal court in San Francisco [California]. The FBI agreed on April 21 to withdraw the letter and unseal the court case, making some of the documents available to the public." ... "The Patriot Act greatly expanded the reach of NSLs, which are subpoenas for documents such as billing records and telephone records that the FBI can issue in terrorism investigations without a judge's approval. Nearly all NSLs come with gag orders forbidding the recipient from ever speaking of the subpoena, except to a lawyer." ... "Brewster Kahle called the gag order "horrendous," saying he couldn't talk about the case with his board members, wife or staff, but said that his stand was part of a time-honored tradition of librarians protecting the rights of their patrons." ... ""This is an unqualified success that will help other recipients understand that you can push back on these," Kahle said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday morning." ... "Though FBI guidelines on using NSLs warned of overusing them, two Congressionally ordered audits revealed that the FBI had issued hundreds of illegal requests for student health records, telephone records and credit reports. The reports also found that the FBI had issued hundreds of thousands of NSLs since 2001, but failed to track their use. In a letter to Congress last week, the FBI admitted it can only estimate how many NSLs it has issued." -By Ryan Singel -Wired
Scott J Bloch - Criminal - Government - Computer - Censorship - Politics - Workers - Law - Virginia - "Federal Agents Raid Office of Special Counsel." ... "Nearly two dozen federal agents yesterday raided the Washington headquarters of the agency that protects government whistle-blowers, as part of an intensifying criminal investigation of its leader, who is fighting allegations of improper political bias and obstruction of justice." ... "Agents fanned out yesterday morning in the agency's building on M Street, where they sequestered Office of Special Counsel chief Scott J. Bloch for questioning, served grand-jury subpoenas on 17 employees and shut down access to computer networks in a search lasting more than five hours." ... "Bloch, who was nominated to his post by [Republican] President Bush in 2003, is the principal official responsible for protecting federal employees from reprisals for complaints about waste and fraud. He also polices violations of Hatch Act prohibitions on political activities in federal offices." ... "Bloch has long been a target of criticism, some of it by his agency's career officials, but the FBI's [Federal Bureau of Investigation's] abrupt seizure of computers and records marked a substantial escalation of the executive branch's probe of his conduct. Retired FBI agents and former prosecutors called the raid an unusual, if not unprecedented, intrusion on the work of a federal agency." ... "Agents from the Office of Personnel Management's inspector general's office, who have been investigating Bloch for more than two years, visited his home on Stockade Drive in Alexandria [Virginia] yesterday. They left carrying boxes of files." ... "Complaints from [whistle-blowers lawyer Debra] Katz's clients and others ultimately prompted the inspector general at the Office of Personnel Management to begin examining Bloch's treatment of workers and his handling of cases involving whistle-blowers at other agencies. During the probe, Bloch hired the technology service Geeks on Call to erase his computer hard drive and those of two aides, giving rise to new allegations that he was obstructing justice." (1, 2) -By Carrie Johnson and Christopher Lee with contributions by Stephen Barr and Daniela Deane and research editor Alice Crites -WashingtonPost
Scott J Bloch - Lurita Alexis Doan - Illegal - Political - Government - Workers - Hatch Act - Computer - Censorship - 2004 Election - Travel - "FBI seizes Doan, Rice case files in raid of OSC chief's office." ... "About 20 FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] agents and administrative investigators executed search warrants Tuesday on the U.S. [United States] Office of Special Counsel in a daylong raid that appeared at least partly focused on finding information on the office's high-profile investigations into alleged illegal political activity by [Republican President] Bush administration officials." ... "Last year, the OPM IG's office began looking into Bloch's hiring of private computer technicians to remove files from his office computer and those of aides. The files had been sought by investigators, but Bloch has described the files as personal and not relevant to the probe." ... "But OSC employees said the grand jury subpoenas seek a wide range of information that goes beyond Bloch's deletion of computer files or treatment of agency employees." ... "Investigators have demanded all files on OSC's investigation last year into allegations of improper political activity by Lurita Doan, the former head of the General Services Administration, who was forced to resign last week by the White House." ... "OSC found that Doan, in a January 2007 meeting to discuss Republican congressional races with the agency's political appointees and a White House political operative, violated the Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from using government resources for partisan politics. But the finding generated criticism from House Republicans, who accused Bloch of leaking results of the Doan investigation to the news media." ... "During Tuesday's raid, investigators did not seek files from the wider Hatch Act probe, but they subpoenaed at least two OSC employees who are part of the unit looking into the suspected political activities. They also sought Bloch's expense and credit card records, information regarding his use of storage facilities or safety deposit boxes and material related to testimony he has delivered at congressional hearings." ... "In addition, investigators demanded documents related to OSC's investigation into allegations that Secretary of State Rice used federal resources to travel to campaign appearances supporting President Bush's re-election in 2004. Bloch's office closed the case, finding no violation by Rice." -By Dan Friedman -CongressDaily via -GovExec.com
Scott J Bloch - Karl Rove - Criminal - Government - Workers - Politics - Hatch Act - History - Computer - Data - Censorship - "FBI Raids Special Counsel, Seizes Data." ... "Federal agents raided the Office of Special Counsel, a government agency involved in several high-profile and politically sensitive investigations. The agents seized computer files and documents from its chief, Scott Bloch, and his staff." ... "Mr. Bloch, who was appointed by [Republican] President Bush, has been under investigation since 2005 by the Office of Personnel Management for employee claims that he abused his agency's authority, retaliated against its staff and dismissed whistleblower cases without adequate examination." ... "The Justice Department joined the case as the inquiry was widened last year to include possible obstruction of justice, which is a criminal offense. The Wall Street Journal reported [November] Nov. 28 that in the midst of the inquiry Mr. Bloch used an agency credit card to hire a commercial firm, Geeks on Call, to erase data from his computer and those of former staff." ... "The Office of Special Counsel, created in the 1970s in the wake of the Watergate scandal, probes sensitive personnel and whistleblower claims by government workers. It also enforces the Hatch Act, which forbids the use of federal resources for partisan political purposes." ... "Among the office's recent inquiries was whether former [Republican President Bush] White House political director Karl Rove and others improperly used U.S. [United States] agencies to help elect Republicans." ... "Mr. Bloch's investigation of the White House political operation began after a Rove deputy gave a series of political presentations to government agencies on Republican prospects in specific congressional races. Mr. Bloch's office wanted to know whether such presentations violated the Hatch Act." -By John R. Wilke -WSJ.com

Criminal - Torture - Secret - Military - Prison - Censored - Intelligence - Law - Politics - Federal - New York - "CIA Foresaw Interrogation Issues: Agency Considered Investigations 'Virtually Inevitable'." ... "The CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] concluded that criminal, administrative or civil investigations stemming from harsh interrogation tactics were "virtually inevitable," leading the agency to seek legal support from the Justice Department, according to a CIA official's statement in court documents filed yesterday." ... "The CIA said it had identified more than 7,000 pages of classified memos, e-mails and other records relating to its secret prison and interrogation program, but maintained that the materials cannot be released because they relate to, in part, communications between CIA and Justice Department attorneys or discussions with the [Republican President Bush] White House." ... "Nineteen of those documents were withheld from disclosure specifically because the Bush administration decided they are covered by a "presidential communications privilege," according to the filings, made in federal court in Manhattan [New York]. Some were "authored or solicited and received by the President's senior advisors in connection with a decision, or potential decision, to be made by the president."" ... "Although the precise content of the documents is unknown, the agency's statements illustrate the extent to which senior White House officials were involved in decision-making on CIA detentions, interrogations, and renditions, a term for forced transfers of prisoners." -By Dan Eggen with contributions by Julie Tate -WashingtonPost
US - Iraq - Military - Family - Photographs - People - Media - Politics - Virginia - "What the Family Would Let You See, the Pentagon Obstructs." ... "[Lieutenant Colonel] Lt. Col. Billy Hall, one of the most senior officers to be killed in the Iraq war, was laid to rest yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery [Arlington, Virginia]. It's hard to escape the conclusion that the Pentagon doesn't want you to know that." ... "The family of 38-year-old Hall, who leaves behind two young daughters and two stepsons, gave their permission for the media to cover his Arlington burial -- a decision many grieving families make so that the nation will learn about their loved ones' sacrifice. But the military had other ideas, and they arranged the Marine's burial yesterday so that no sound, and few images, would make it into the public domain." ... "That's a shame, because Hall's story is a moving reminder that the war in Iraq, forgotten by much of the nation, remains real and present for some. Among those unlikely to forget the war: 6-year-old Gladys and 3-year-old Tatianna. The rest of the nation, if it remembers Hall at all, will remember him as the 4,011th American service member to die in Iraq, give or take, and the 419th to be buried at Arlington. Gladys and Tatianna will remember him as Dad." ... "Journalists were held 50 yards from the service, separated from the mourning party by six or seven rows of graves, and staring into the sun and penned in by a yellow rope." ... "It had the feel of a throwback to Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon, when the military cracked down on photographs of flag-draped caskets returning home from the war. Rumsfeld himself was exposed for failing to sign by hand the condolence letters he sent to the next of kin." -By Dana Milbank -WashingtonPost

Noteworthy - Government - EPA - Opinion - Science - Politics - Food - Drug - Oceanic - Atmospheric - Climate - Health - California - Investigation - "Hundreds of EPA Scientists Report Political Interference Over Last Five Years: UCS [Union of Concerned Scientists] calls for strengthened protections for federal scientists." ... "An investigation of the Environmental Protection Agency released today found that 889 of nearly 1,600 staff scientists reported that they experienced political interference in their work over the last five years. The study, by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), follows previous UCS investigations of the Food and Drug Administration, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and climate scientists at seven federal agencies, which also found significant administration manipulation of federal science." ... ""Our investigation found an agency in crisis," said Francesca Grifo, director of UCS's Scientific Integrity Program. "Nearly 900 EPA scientists reported political interference in their scientific work. That's 900 too many. Distorting science to accommodate a narrow political agenda threatens our environment, our health, and our democracy itself."" ... "The UCS report comes amidst a flurry of controversial activity swirling around the EPA. Congress is currently investigating administration interference in a new chemical toxicity review process as well as California's request to regulate tailpipe emissions. And in early May, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is expected to hold a hearing on political interference in the new EPA ground-level ozone pollution standard." ... "UCS's investigation revealed political interference is most pronounced in offices where scientists write regulations and at the National Center for Environmental Assessment, where scientists conduct risk assessments that could lead to strengthened regulations." ... ""The investigation shows researchers are generally continuing to do their work," said Dr. Grifo. "But their scientific findings are tossed aside when it comes time to write regulations."" ... "Nearly 100 scientists identified the [Republican President Bush's] White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the primary culprit." -UCSUSA.org
Government - Environmental - Science - Politics - Human - Health - Law - Air - Ground - Water - Homes - Workplace - Industry - US - Global - Climate - Free Speech - Censorship - "Interference at the EPA: Science and Politics at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency." ... "The U.S. [United States] Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the simple yet profound charge "to protect human health and the environment." EPA scientists apply their expertise to protect the public from air and water pollution, clean up hazardous waste, and study emerging threats such as global warming. Because each year brings new and potentially toxic chemicals into our homes and workplaces, because air pollution still threatens our public health, and because environmental challenges are becoming more complex and global, a strong and capable EPA is more important than ever." ... "Yet challenges from industry lobbyists and some political leaders to the agency's decisions have too often led to the suppression and distortion of the scientific findings underlying those decisions—to the detriment of both science and the health of our nation. While every regulatory agency must balance scientific findings with other considerations, policy makers need access to the highest-quality scientific information to make fully informed decisions." ... "Concern over this problem led the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) to investigate political interference in science at the EPA. The investigation combines dozens of interviews with current and former EPA staff, analysis of government documents, more than 1,600 responses to a survey sent to current EPA scientists, and written comments from EPA scientists." ... "The results of these investigations show an agency under siege from political pressures. On numerous issues—ranging from mercury pollution to groundwater contamination to climate change—political appointees have edited scientific documents, manipulated scientific assessments, and generally sought to undermine the science behind dozens of EPA regulations." ... "These findings highlight the need for strong reforms to protect EPA scientists, make agency decision making more transparent, and reduce politicization of the regulatory process. Congress, the next president, and the next EPA Administrator must restore independence and scientific integrity to the EPA by:"

" * Protecting EPA Scientists: Scientists should be free to report the distortion, manipulation, and suppression of their work without fear of retribution. Congress should pass a whistleblower law that includes protection for scientists. The EPA should adopt a communications policy that lets scientists speak freely to the press about their findings."
" * Making the EPA More Transparent: Too many decisions are made behind closed doors with little accountability. The EPA’s scientific findings should be freely available to the public. The EPA should open up its decision-making process to congressional and public scrutiny to help reveal misuses of science[.]"
" * Reforming the Regulatory Process: The White House should not change scientific findings in order to weaken, delay, or prevent new public protections."
" * Ensuring Robust Scientific Input to EPA's Decision Making: The EPA should review and strengthen how it uses the scientific expertise of its staff and external advisory committees to create policies—especially when scientific input is critical or required by law."
" * Depoliticizing Funding, Monitoring, and Enforcement: Problems with funding, monitoring and enforcement also need to be addressed by Congress and the next President to ensure that the EPA is the robust environmental agency that our country needs."

-UCSUSA.org/scientific_integrity/interference

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China - Military - Police - Terrorism - Religious - Censorship - Oil - Sports - Human Rights - "As world watches Tibet, China's Muslim Uighurs face growing repression." ... "Almost unnoticed amid the wide-scale protests by Tibetans over the past month is the social unrest among the 8 million or so Muslim Uighurs in China's resource-rich far western territory." ... "Recently, hundreds of Muslim women in black veils gathered outside the market in this oasis city [Khotan, China] in an impromptu protest. Some carried signs demanding an independent state." ... ""I saw the demonstration myself. There were 500 to 700 women in black, waving placards for East Turkestan," said Wu Jiangliang, a hydroelectric company employee." ... "China handled the unrest forcefully, ensuring the stability of a region rich in oil, coal and minerals. Police moved quickly to quell the March 23 protest, arresting numerous women and shooing others away. It drew only minor notice." ... "China also has broken up what it said were two terrorist rings that intended to disrupt the Beijing [China's capital] Summer Olympic Games and thwarted what it said was a terrorist attempt last month on a commercial airliner." ... "But as state officials employed a firm hand against restive Uighurs, pronounced WEE-gers, they also publicly demonized those behind the social unrest. Critics now say that while the state has stabilized ethnic areas, the harsh language may exacerbate tensions." ... ""The problem is that China's policies are alienating," said Nicholas Bequelin, a Hong Kong-based researcher for Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group. "They are efficient in that political repression works. But they increase ethnic tensions."" -By Tim Johnson -McClatchyDC.com

Connecticut - Hack - Political - US Attorney - Censorship - 2006 Election - Web - E-Mails - Federal - Attorney - US - Iraq - Military - "FBI probe: Lieberman campaign to blame for crashing own Web site." ... "A federal investigation has concluded that U.S. [United States Connecticut Independent Democrat Senator] Sen. Joseph Lieberman's 2006 re-election campaign was to blame for the crash of its Web site the day before Connecticut's heated Aug. [August] 8 Democratic primary." ... "The FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] office in New Haven [Connecticut] found no evidence supporting the Lieberman campaign's allegations that supporters of primary challenger Ned Lamont of Greenwich [Connecticut] were to blame for the Web site crash." ... "Lieberman, who was fighting for his political life against the anti-Iraq war candidate [Ned] Lamont, implied that joe2006.com was hacked by Lamont supporters." ... ""The server that hosted the joe2006.com Web site failed because it was overutilized and misconfigured. There was no evidence of (an) attack," according to the e-mail." ... "The e-mail, dated Oct. [October] 25, 2006, was included in a technical packet of information recently sent to The Advocate in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act filed in late 2006 with the offices of state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor." ... "The Advocate filed the requests after Blumenthal and O'Connor closed the case but declined to divulge details. They stated only that they found no evidence that Lamont supporters were to blame." ... "Visitors who tried to access Lieberman's site at the time received a message calling on Lamont to "make an unqualified statement denouncing this kind of dirty campaign trick and to demand whoever is responsible to cease and desist immediately."" ... "Blumenthal denied The Advocate's FOI [Freedom of Information] request on the grounds it was a federal matter, and it took more than a year for the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice to respond." ... "According to the FBI memo, the site crashed because Lieberman officials continually exceeded a configured limit of 100 e-mails per hour the night before the primary." -By Brian Lockhart -StamfordAdvocate.com

Medical - Database - Abortion - Science - Literature - Family - Education - Government - Search Engine - Funding - Maryland - US - International - Politics - "U.S. Funded Health Search Engine Blocks 'Abortion'." ... "A U.S. [United States] government-funded medical information site that bills itself as the world's largest database on reproductive health has quietly begun to block searches on the word "abortion," concealing nearly 25,000 search results." ... "Called Popline, the search site is run by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Maryland. It's funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, the federal office in charge of providing foreign aid, including health care funding, to developing nations." ... "The massive database indexes a broad range of reproductive health literature, including titles like "Previous abortion and the risk of low birth weight and preterm births," and "Abortion in the United States: Incidence and access to services, 2005."" ... "But on Thursday, a search on "abortion" was producing only the message "No records found by latest query."" ... "Stephen Goldstein, a spokesman for Johns Hopkins, said he wasn't aware of the censorship, and couldn't immediately comment. " -By Sarah Lai Stirland -Wired
Corporate - Federal - Aviation - Safety - Transportation - Law - Jobs - Politics - Censorship - Minn - "FAA Inspectors Say Jobs Were Threatened: Committee Investigating 'Culture Of Coziness'." ... "The whistleblowers who exposed maintenance and inspection problems at Southwest Airlines told Congress Thursday that their jobs were threatened." ... "They also told U.S. [United States Minnesota Democratic Represenative] Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn. [Democratic-Minnesota], and other members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that their reports of noncompliance were ignored for years by their superiors." ... "Federal Aviation Administration inspector Douglas Peters choked up during the hearing and needed a few sips of water to tell lawmakers about how a former manager came into his office, commented on pictures of Peters' family being most important, and then said his job could be jeopardized by his actions." ... "Oberstar said FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] managers' actions displayed "malfeasance bordering on corruption," adding that if presented to a grand jury, the evidence would result in an indictment." -KCTV5.com

Noteworthy - Consumer - Finances - Law - Politics - "'Muscle' Silences Credit Card Adversaries." ... "Christy Mylar Smith and her husband paid their Citibank card bill on time for years -- but when they paid late twice in one year, their interest rate increased from 12.9 percent to 31.4 percent overnight." ... "Steven Strachan has a FICO score in the high 700s, has always paid on time, has never gone over the limit, yet Chase increased his rate from 10.99 percent to 24.99 percent." ... "Steve Autry accepted a fixed rate for life of 9.9 percent from Capital One. Now Capital One tells him that the cost of business and rising interest rates will cause his rates to increase, even though he has been a customer in good standing for many years." ... "Marvin Weatherspoon took advantage of a low introductory rate from Bank of America, but because he was a few days late in paying one month, his interest rate has been increased from 4.25 percent to almost 25 percent. Only $108 of his $347 monthly payment goes to the principal. He has tried to work with the bank, but felt "he had no voice."" ... "At the 11th hour, the credit companies found a way to stop those that had traveled to Washington today to tell their story to the congressional panel on consumer credit." ... "The banks whose practices were about to be discussed on Capitol Hill demanded that those testifying before Congress about credit card practices sign a waiver that allowed their personal financial information be revealed to the public." ... "The Republicans on the subcommittee backed the banks' requests and a procedural battle would have ensued." (1, 2) -By Vija Udenans -ABCNEWS.com

US - Iraq - Terrorism - Military - Government - Intelligence - Politics - "Pentagon Report on Saddam's Iraq Censored?" ... "ABC News' Jonathan Karl Reports: The [Republican President] Bush Administration apparently does not want a U.S. military study that found no direct connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda to get any attention. This morning, the Pentagon cancelled plans to send out a press release announcing the report's release and will no longer make the report available online." ... "The report was to be posted on the Joint Forces Command website this afternoon, followed by a background briefing with the authors. No more." ... "ABC News obtained the comprehensive military study of Saddam Hussein's links to terrorism on Tuesday." ... "The study, which was due to be released Wednesday, found no "smoking gun" or any evidence of a direct connection between Saddam's Iraq and the al Qaeda terrorist organization." ... "The report is based on the analysis of some 600,000 official Iraqi documents seized by US forces after the invasion. It is also based on thousands of hours of interrogations of former top officials in Saddam's government who are now in U.S. custody." ... "Others have reached the same conclusion, but no previous study has had access to so much information. Further, this is the first official acknowledgement from the U.S. military that there is no evidence Saddam had ties to Al Qaeda." -ABCNEWS.com

Karl Rove - Political - Government - Computer - E-Mails - Communications - Archives - Laws - Presidential Records Act Law - Hatch Act Law - History - Data - Censorship - Investigation - "GOP Halts Effort to Retrieve White House E-Mails." ... "After promising last year to search its computers for tens of thousands of e-mails sent by [Republican President Bush] White House officials, the Republican National Committee has informed a House committee that it no longer plans to retrieve the communications by restoring computer backup tapes, the panel's chairman said yesterday." ... "The move increases the likelihood that an untold number of RNC [RNC=Republican National Committee=Republican Party] e-mails dealing with official White House business during the first term of the Bush administration -- including many sent or received by former [Republican President Bush] presidential adviser Karl Rove -- will never be recovered, said House Democrats and public records advocates." ... "Administration officials have acknowledged that Rove and many other White House officials routinely used RNC accounts for government business, despite rules [Laws: the Presidential Records Act Law and the Hatch Act Law] requiring that they conduct such business through official communications channels. The RNC deleted all e-mails until 2004, when it exempted White House officials from its e-mail purging policy." ... "About 80 White House aides used RNC accounts for official government business, committee staff members said. Rove, for example, sent or received 140,000 e-mails on RNC servers from 2002 to 2007, and more than half involved official ".gov" accounts, the panel has said." ... "The RNC dispute is part of a broader debate over whether the Bush administration has complied with long-standing statutory requirements to preserve official White House records -- including those reflecting potentially sensitive policy discussions -- for history and in case of future legal demands." ... "The committee is investigating allegations that vast stores of official Bush administration e-mails have also gone missing from the White House, which scrapped a [former Democratic President] Clinton-era archiving system and has struggled with data retention problems." -By Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost

US - Iraq - Military - MRAP - Vehicles - Investigation - Government - Politics -