So the DNC says.
The Democratic Party asked a judge Thursday to order the disclosure of 68 pages of White House e-mails that the Bush administration is trying to keep secret.
The Democratic National Committee is suing the Justice Department over the firing of U.S. attorneys, seeking electronic messages by White House staffers who performed political duties on e-mail accounts of the Republican National Committee.
Dozens of White House staffers had RNC e-mail accounts and the Democratic Party is trying to determine the extent to which those accounts were used in the U.S. attorneys controversy.
Lest we forget there are two Bush Administration White House e-mail scandals.
It's not scandal #1. The e-mails involved in this case are not the on-again off-again missing/not missing overwritten/not overwritten ones that went missing from the White House official servers.
It's scandal #2. These are the e-mails sent from RNC-funded accounts that taxpayer-salaried White House staffers were using in a a claimed "abundance of caution" for the Hatch Act.
RNC accounts that were used by the likes of J. Scott Jennings to set up political briefings at the GSA with Director Luria Doan.
Specifically, Jennings used a "gwb43.com" e-mail account for communication regarding the GSA presentation, as well as "to recruit applicants for official government positions through the "Kentucky Republican Voice," an internet site that describes itself as "the best source for Kentucky Republican grassroots information,'" according to the congressman's letter.
RNC accounts that were used by Karl Rove's aide to hide Jack Abramoff's lobbying at the White House.
Ralston used such outside accounts when corresponding with Abramoff, even writing to him once, "I now have an RNC blackberry which you can use to e-mail me at any time. No security issues like my WH email."
RNC accounts that were (likely) used to set up political strategy sessions at the White House with Ohio Coingate felon Tom Noe:
Once Mr. Noe was in the White House on Feb. 24, 2003, his itinerary included an "Ohio political strategy session’’ with Ken Mehlman, who was later named Mr. Bush’s campaign manager and Collister "Coddy’’ Johnson, later named the campaign’s field director.
A listing of the day’s events said Karl Rove, who is credited as the "architect" of Mr. Bush’s political career, was "likely’’ to attend the political strategy session at the White House, according to a Feb. 21, 2003, e-mail from David Rachelson, then the White House’s associate political director from Ohio.
The one-hour strategy session was scheduled to include several people, including Mr. Noe. A White House spokesman yesterday could not confirm Mr. Noe’s attendance at the meeting or other events that day.
In an earlier e-mail, Mr. Johnson, the former White House associate director of political affairs, provided Brian Hicks’ work and cell phone numbers to Mr. Rove.
Now there's lots of activity on the e-mail scandal front. Just days ago I diared a development on the official e-mail scandal:
A federal judge agreed Monday to allow a private group to delve into the operations of an office at the White House as part of a controversy over whether large amounts of e-mail have disappeared....
...The judge said she will allow Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington to gather a "very limited" amount of information from the White House Office of Administration, which is in charge of preserving e-mail.
I'm interested to see where this is going. VERY interested. And be sure to tune into Henry Waxman's next hearing on the e-mails scheduled for February 26:
Full Committee Hearing on Preservation of White House E-mails
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Tuesday, February 26, 2008, TBA at 2154 Rayburn House Office Building