Snow Responds To Potentially Illegal Use Of RNC Accounts: Clinton Did It Too

[Hissyspit]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/06/19/snow-clinton-records

Snow Responds To Potentially Illegal Use Of RNC Accounts: Clinton Did It Too

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday released a report documenting how White House officials have regularly used RNC and Bush-Cheney ‘04 e-mail accounts for official government business, in apparent violation of the Hatch Act. The report also found that the RNC has overseen “extensive destruction” of these e-mails, which would likely violate the Presidential Records Act.

During yesterday’s press briefing, White House spokesman Tony Snow brushed aside this direct evidence of potential illegality. His response: Clinton did it too. “Those email accounts were set up on a model based on the prior administration, which had done it the same way, in order to try to avoid Hatch Act violations.” Watch it:

VIDEO AT LINK

Snow’s statement is false. In 1993, President Clinton’s then-Assistant to the President John Podesta issued a staff memo clearly stating that all administration e-mails dealing with official business had to be “incorporated into an official recordkeeping system,” stressing that no “e-mail document that is a Presidential record should be deleted.”



Transcript:

Q Waxman’s committee has put out an interim report on the issue of the RNC emails showing, they say, that there was more use of those emails than the White House suggested, indicating possibly widespread violation of the Presidential Records Act. It’s, like, 140,000 emails of Rove’s, so the White House Counsel’s Office is aware that official business was being conducted through this party (inaudible) system? Can you respond to all that and what –

MR. SNOW: Look, I can’t respond specifically to things that the committee may have put out. But those email accounts were set up, A, on a model based on the prior administration, which had done it the same way, in order to try to avoid Hatch Act violations. And we’ll just — we’ll leave it at that. I mean, these were designed precisely to avoid Hatch Act violations that prohibit the use of government assets for certain political activities.

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[BlooInBloo]

1. Riiight. With a republican Congress that never uttered a word about it. Riiight.

[burythehatchet]

2. it would be cheaper and just as useful to hire this guy as press secretary

[Zodiak]

15. Minus the bode hair

they look amazingly similar.

[blogslut]

yep

Tony made that excuse up out of whole cloth.

[MNDemNY]

3. Wow, Clinton used RNC e-mail accounts? Weird.

[AndyA]

8. That's what I thought as well!

What a scandal! :rofl:

[Bucky]

14. Please don't get the anti-DLC crowd started

If this turns into a rumor, I'm blaming you. :)

[thoughtanarchist]

16. I guess that explains NAFTA

:evilgrin:

[tridim]

4. Ahh, you just have to love it when "The adults" are using the same argument..

a 5 year old would use.

"But, but, but Billy did it too!" :eyes:

These guys all need to resign.

[liberal N proud]

5. When will someone tell them this is getting old and worn out

They have continually blamed Clinton for their failures for nearly 7 years.

Enough already

[kestrel91316]

6. Hey, Tony? PATHOLOGICAL LYING is not a side effect of chemo.

This isn't gonna fly. And you don't get to plead "My disease and medications made me do it".

[madinmaryland]

7. Didn't the repubs have a thousand or so investigations of Clinton

going on during his terms? If they couldn't find it then, then I guess it didn't happen.

MORANS!

[razorman]

18. Of course, email was still in its infancy then.

Perhaps they just didn't understand it.

[xultar]

9. Clinton also got a BJ in the OO. Bush gonna do that too?

Let's hope so.

[razorman]

19. If that trend gets started, then the first thing every president

will do from now on after taking the oath will be to have the Oval Office carpets changed.

[peace13]

10. Hey Tony at some point our government must start telling

the truth. I don't care who else did it, if it's illegal let's address it now! And by the way I don't believe a word that you say!

[razorman]

11. Maybe true, Tony. But so what?

Clinton didn't get caught at it. You guys did.

[librechik]

17. not even true

check Podesta's "do not do this" email vs. the Rove Depts "do this for all sensitive matters" email on the subject.

The only person who caught Clinton doing this was Tony Snow when he made it up.

[razorman]

20. Whatever the truth of the matter, the fact remains that anyone

who puts sensitive info in an email is an idiot, and gets what they deserve. Email is not secure. Probably never will be.

[librechik]

21. Thank goodness--we can go find their emails anyway!

idiots.

and it serves them right for going through our personal emails without warrants.

But next time, they'll be more careful, and harder to defeat.

[Freddie Stubbs]

22. Was Podesta's policy continued by his successors?

:shrug:

[librechik]

23. They were supposed to, yes. But there was a specific email from somebody on Rove's staff

he/she told the receiver "use the other mail system" for a discussion on the fired USAs.

[razorman]

24. It wouldn't surprise me. As long as the behavior is not caught and punished,

then it will continue. This goes for both parties. D.C. is a swamp, both figuratively and literally.

[Hubert Flottz]

12. HEY TONY...saint Peter is watching you Very Closely...

He sees you when you're sleepin'...he knows when you're awake...he knows if you've been bad or good...so don't lie for goodness sake!

Edit...I think that thing has metastasized to Tony's department of good sense.

[BlooInBloo]

13. Nah. That ship sailed a loooong time ago.

[babylonsister]

25. Of COURSE he did, but he's not in office. What's your excuse? nt

[TrogL]

26. 'et tu' is a logical fallacy

Repugs were looking for something, anything that would bring down the Clinton administration. I'm sure they'd have found a second email system pretty quickly.

[Norquist Nemesis]

27. Alrighty then! We can Impeach him under the same reasoning!

If Clinton was Impeached, then Bush can be as well!