Bush Nominee for Archivist Is Criticized for His Secrecy

[Gman]

ASHINGTON, April 19 — President Bush's nominee to be archivist of the United States — an ordinarily low-profile job that includes overseeing the release of government documents, including presidential papers — is generating an intense controversy among historians, some of whom accuse the White House of trying to push through a candidate who is prone to secrecy.

The nominee, Allen Weinstein, is a former university professor who for two decades has worked to bring about democracy in former dictatorships. As a historian, he is best known for a 1978 book on Alger Hiss, a work that still stirs anger among historians who say Mr. Weinstein refused to make his notes public.

In an interview Monday, Mr. Weinstein did not address that accusation specifically, saying he felt he should reserve discussion of that until his Senate confirmation hearings. But he did defend himself, taking the rare step of speaking to a reporter while his nomination is pending, describing himself as a registered Democrat and saying, "I am not in anybody's pocket, and I am committed to maximum access."
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http://query.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html?tntget=2004/04/20/politics/20ARCH.html&tntemail0

I read somewhere over the weekend that this was being perceived as the WH being in panic mode that Bush may not get elected. Getting this guy in was one way they will try to keep records concealed to avoid prosecution if Bush doesn't get elected.