Perspective: An E-Mail Connection To White House Wrongdoing?

Reprinted with permission from CNet.com

The House Oversight Committee has been investigating whether White House officials violated the Presidential Records Act by using e-mail accounts maintained by the Republican National Committee and the Bush Cheney '04 campaign.

Investigators first learned that White House officials might be using RNC e-mail accounts to avoid creating a record of official communications during the Oversight Committee's inquiry last year into White House contacts with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The committee recently issued its interim staff report, and its preliminary findings are worthy of consideration.

The highlights include the following:

• The number of White House officials provided with RNC e-mail accounts was higher than previously disclosed. Indeed, while in March 2007 a White House representative stated that only a handful of officials had RNC e-mail accounts, the committee learned from the RNC that at least 88 White House officials had