Constitutional Law

Securing Administration E-Mails For Historical Record Remains Ongoing Struggle

A combination of technical and legal barriers may impede the transfer of the Bush administration’s records to the National Archives by the end of its term, the Washington Post reports.  Among the 300 million electronic messages and 25,000 boxes of documents, there are hundreds of thousands of e-mails that were reported missing in 2005 that the White House only recently began trying to recover. Moreover, Vice President Cheney is asserting that his office may determine whether his records are official or personal, a contention that has spurred a lawsuit from a group of historians and non-profit organizations.

According to the Presidential Records Act of 1978, an outgoing administration must transfer official records to the National Archives at the close of its term. Since that time, the Reagan, first Bush, and Clinton administrations have sought to restrict access to some of their electronic records. In 2001, the Bush administration’s  Executive Order 13233 added barriers on presidential records, “reflecting military, diplomatic, or national security secrets, Presidential communications, legal work, or the deliberative processes of the President and the President’s advisers.”

The volume of electronic records from the Bush administration raises the stakes in this controversy. The delay of even some records would significantly hinder historians and scholars researching the Bush administration, as noted Thomas Blanton, the director of the National Security Archive, which has lodged a lawsuit over the matter against the vice president.

In October, ACS distributed an Issue Brief by Meredith Fuchs, the General Counsel of the National Security Archive, entitled, “The White House: Off Limits to Historians?” Fuchs examines the significance of the President Records Act of 1978 and Executive Order 13233, explores the recent controversies surrounding the Bush administration’s records, and makes a series of recommendations for the incoming administration.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on December 31, 1969 (boomark / email).