Lawmaker claims 'extensive destruction' of e-mail records

White House use of Republican National Committee e-mail accounts is more extensive than previously known, while the "extensive destruction" of e-mails points to widespread violations of the Presidential Records Act, according to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The committee's conclusions are part of an interim report released Monday by panel chairman Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on the panel's investigation of the White House use of e-mail accounts maintained by the RNC. The evidence has prompted the committee to open yet another front in the investigation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who as White House counsel may have known about the use of RNC accounts for official communications but did nothing to ensure the e-mails were preserved, according to the report.

"The evidence obtained by the committee indicates that White House officials used their RNC e-mail accounts in a manner that circumvented" requirements of the Presidential Records Act, which requires the preservation of records, the report states.

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow on Monday declined to comment directly on the report. But he noted that use of the RNC e-mail accounts was modeled on a system used by "a prior administration which had done it the same way in order to avoid Hatch Act violations."

The Hatch Act prohibits the use of government facilities for political activities. "People have been putting together investigations to see if it sticks," Snow complained. "They have had very little success so far. This administration is very careful about obeying the law."

According to the report, the RNC has preserved 140,216 e-mails sent or received by White House political chief Karl Rove. "Over half of these e-mails were sent to or received from individuals using official '.gov' e-mail accounts," the report states.

At least 88 White House officials had RNC accounts, including vice presidential aides and officials outside the political office such as former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and communications aides.

There are "major gaps" in the records of 37 White House officials whose e-mails were not fully preserved, the committee found. The RNC maintained only 130 e-mails sent to Rove during President Bush's tenure and none from before November 2003. The panel is examining the records of federal agencies to see if they have preserved some of the lost e-mails, and "preliminary responses" from the agencies indicate they have.

The panel might also compel cooperation from the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign which, according to the report, provided e-mail accounts to 11 White House officials but has not been forthcoming with "basic information' about the accounts.