Testimony in White House E-Mail Case
By Greg Toppo
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, July 13, 2000; 12:15 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON �� A former White House computer consultant testified
Thursday that workers could have begun retrieving thousands of
lost e-mails in a few days if the Clinton administration had
committed enough resources. She said the entire system could have
been restored in a matter of months.
White House officials earlier this year said thousands of
e-mails, including some from Vice President Al Gore's office,
were not properly archived and were lost because of a computer
glitch.
As a result, the messages were never reviewed by White House
lawyers to determine if they should be turned over to
investigators under subpoenas in probes ranging from the Monica
Lewinsky scandal and Whitewater to campaign fund raising.
White House officials say they spent months on the problem but
couldn't retrieve the e-mails.
Testifying before U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who is
presiding over a civil case involving the messages, Sheryl Hall
estimated it would take about four to six weeks for about five
workers to restore the thousands of lost e-mails. She said
workers could begin producing the files in a matter of days,
given the proper tools.
"This is not rocket science," she said.
Hall testified on behalf of the conservative legal group Judicial
Watch, which brought the lawsuit against the Clinton
administration.
Under cross-examination, Hall said she didn't know how long the
task would take using computers approved by law enforcement
agencies, as required in the case.
Because of an apparent programming error, incoming e-mail
messages dating back to August 1996 were not searched in response
to subpoenas by the Justice Department and congressional
investigators.
Congress, Independent Counsel Robert Ray and the Justice
Department are investigating whether the e-mail problem was an
innocent mistake, as the White House contends, or part of an
effort to obstruct their investigations into the Lewinsky scandal
and the White House's gathering of the FBI files of past
Republican appointees.
The White House denies any wrongdoing. A former White House
lawyer told the House Government Reform Committee last May that
all e-mails found in a limited test in 1998 turned out to be
duplicates of messages already turned offer to former Independent
Counsel Kenneth Starr in the Lewinsky probe.
The e-mail controversy erupted earlier this year, when Hall and
Betty Lambuth, another former White House computer technician,
said that much of the administration's e-mail had not been stored
in computer archives. White House officials blame a "disconnect"
between the technicians and the administration's attorneys, who
apparently did not understand that the glitch might affect
pending subpoenas.
But House Republicans investigating the problem say the White
House has dragged its feet in solving the problem and threatened
technicians who revealed the glitch.
� Copyright 2000 The Associated Press
=================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
=================================================================
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
