Secret Email Accounts Obama Secrets Hidden Communications Discovered
Off the Books Government The Competitive Enterprise Institute has sued the White House Office of
Science and Technology Policy to produce the work-related emails of its
director, John Holdren, that were sent from a private email account and thus
hidden from the Freedom of Information Act and archiving laws.
The lawsuit alleges that Holdren used an email account from his former
employer Woods Hole Research Center, an environmental advocacy group.
“The use of such non-official accounts for agency business frustrates
federal open-government laws, and undermines government accountability, since
such accounts are generally not searched in response to FOIA or congressional
oversight requests seeking work-related communications or agency records,”
Competitive Enterprise Institute attorney Hans Bader said in a blog post.
“Moreover, the use of email accounts at a former employer that lobbies the
federal government gives such pressure groups direct access to and control over
public records, including highly sensitive information.”
This is the latest of many questions surrounding access to records that
have dogged the White House since Obama vowed on his first full day in office
that “transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this
presidency.”
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