House Watchdog Asks White House to Elaborate on Outside Email Usage

House Government Reform and Oversight Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) wants to know more about White House aides' use of external email accounts to conduct government business following new revelations that White House employees used external email accounts from the re-election campaign and Republican National Committee.

Today Waxman asked (.pdf) the president's lawyer to provide documents about how the White House is trying to preserve these outside emails and what agreements might have been struck between the White House and the outside organizations. Government business is supposed to be done on governmental accounts, as those records belong to the people, not the employees; and an outside email account could be used to avoid later investigations or to prevent leaving a record of wrongdoing, as is hinted at in White House employee emails to and from convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Specifically. Waxman wants White House Counsel Fred Fielding to turn over the following documents by April 5 and meet with the committee staff to talk about the issue:

All policies, guidance, and other communications provided to White House officials regarding appropriate use of nongovernmental e-mail accounts, particularly those hosted by the Republican National Committee and other political organizations;

All policies, guidance, and other communications provided to White House officials regarding the obligation to preserve e-mail records, including those created while using nongovernmental e-mail accounts'

Any agreements entered into by the White House and the Republican National Committee, the Bush Cheney'04 campaígr, or other organizations regarding e-mail accounts provided by these organizations to White House officials;

Any documents relating to White House efforts to preserve presidential records that were created on nongovernmental e-mail accounts; and

Any documents relating to White House efforts to secure official e-mails sent through nongovernmental e-mail servers, including any coÍrmunications with the Republican National Committee or the Bush Cheney'04 campaign regarding the security of their servers.

CC-licensed Photo: Tom Eppy