White House Raises Potential Executive-Privilege Claim On RNC E-mails

A White House official today again raised the possibility of an executive-privilege claim on e-mails and other documents from private e-mail accounts used by senior White House officials but controlled by the Republican National Committee.

In a letter to Robert Kelner, the RNC's counsel, Emmet Flood, a special counsel to President Bush, reiterated the desire of the White House to review any materials it is considering turning over the House Judiciary Committee before doing so.

Flood said the Judiciary Committee is seeking "relating to communications authored by Executive Branch officials in which there exists a clear and indisputable Executive Branch interest," including e-mails from Karl Rove and other White House officials related to the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys last year.

Flood said the White House wants to review the documents to determine if "any materials implicating the Presidential Records Act are, in fact, involved," as well as whether "the Executive Branch may need t take measures necessary to protect its other legal interests in communications responsive" to the Judiciary Committee's request to the RNC.

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, immediately criticized the Flood letter to the RNC as an attempt by the White House to delay his panel's investigation.

"The White House's position to clear all RNC emails before they can respond to our request is extreme and unnecessary," Conyers said. "This is a clear attempt, on the Administration's part, to delay this process and keep the wheels of Justice turning slowly."

22 current White House officials, including Karl Rove, deputy chief of staff and President Bush's top political advisor, have private e-mail accounts on RNC servers that are supposed to be used for political work. Democrats, in investigating the U.S. Attorney purge, as well as contacts between Bush administration officials and imprisoned former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and other incidents, found that some White House officials may be using the RNC accounts to avoid the Presidential Records Act, which requires the president and his top aides to retain records of all official actions.

The probe of the RNC accounts led to the further revelation that the White House may have lost as many as 5 million official e-mails thanks to a software malfunction, although the White House says is may be able to recover these messages and has told Democrats that it will consult them in appointing a forensic expert to handle the effort.