Tuesday, November 11, 2008 11:34 AM

Judge Allows White House E-Mail Suit To Continue

By THERESA POULSON

A federal district court judge ruled against the White House on Monday, denying its motion to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to hold the executive office of the president accountable for preserving e-mail records. Possibly millions of White House e-mails are missing and may not be included in the archives of the Bush administration.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive, plaintiffs in the suit, are hoping to recover e-mails from backup tapes before the administration departs on Jan. 20. They argue that the White House's failure to recover, restore and preserve electronic communications, and to implement an e-records management system, is in violation of the Federal Records Act.

National Security Archive general counsel Meredith Fuchs, who spoke with National Journal earlier this month about federal e-mail policies, said that if the court had ruled to dismiss the case, "the White House could have gotten rid of those backup tapes before Jan. 20 and we would never know what was lost, especially from the 2003-2005 period, when the e-mails appear to be missing."

"President-elect Obama will hopefully put into place adequate records management systems that will preserve the documentary history of White House activities," Fuchs continued. "If not, the new administration, just like every administration starting with President Reagan's, will be taken to court.

Spokesman Scott Stanzel told AP that the White House is reviewing the opinion and that presidential aides and the Justice Department are conferring about next steps in the case.