The White House Email Conspiracy

[SkepticGuy]

I'd be curious to learn the point of view from the conspiracy-skeptical crowd here at JREF regarding what appears to be aspects of a currently breaking conspiracy.

The Growing White House Email Conspiracy

We have a bona fide conspiracy of potentially far-reaching proportions happening in the White House right now, and because of sensationalist coverage of more "juicy" news items, seems to be passing by largely unnoticed by the average person.

Two items that are strong evidence of a conspiracy to shelter communications related to the back-room business of the running the White House.

1) External Email Systems: Several White House staffers, some of which report directly to the president, used unofficial email systems (gwb43.org) and non-governmental computers to exchange official policy and planning emails. This appears to have gone on since the administration came into office.

2) Official White House Emails Were Deleted: The private systems used by the White House staffers were designed to automatically delete old emails every 30 days. This is in contradiction to federal law that requires all official communications by White House staff to be securely retained.

News links found at the above thread.


While the conspiracy-minded are predisposed to pounce on this type of news and speculate on the reasons for keeping email communications hidden, I always like to see multiple sides to issues like this.

Some of the "conspiracy angles" we're going to see in the next few days...
1) This proves the politicization of the federal prosecutor firings
2) This proves the existence of many other "secret" communications
3) This proves an administration's disregard for law and propriety
4) This proves a White House communication system that is not secure
5) This is the reason for an explosion of sensationalist news to deflect public attention
6) This proves a corrupt chief-of-staff
7) This is the tip of a massive iceberg

That being said, we certainly have the ingredients for at least a reasonably serious "potentially confirmed" conspiracy.

What do JREF members who are active in this forum think?

 

[Arkan_Wolfshade]

<snip>
While the conspiracy-minded are predisposed to pounce on this type of news and speculate on the reasons for keeping email communications hidden, I always like to see multiple sides to issues like this.

Some of the "conspiracy angles" we're going to see in the next few days...
1) This proves the politicization of the federal prosecutor firings

Well, it doesn't prove it. It is going to make things potentially more difficult if the investigation into the prosecutor firings has to rely solely on individuals' testimony as opposed to electronic evidence though.

2) This proves the existence of many other "secret" communications

Insomuch as happens in any work environment. Hell, at my old employers my fellow IT staff and I would use IM or web-based email to discuss our frustrations with management.

3) This proves an administration's disregard for law and propriety

This one confuses me a little. The people that were using non-WH email were disregarding the law, yes; but that doesn't mean it was necessarily sanctioned by the administration. Additionally, it is confusing why people would be using a system that is not guaranteed to be purged after 30-days if they are trying to keep their communications on the down-low.

4) This proves a White House communication system that is not secure

All systems are insecure, it just depends on the extent. Now, a better question would be wtf is there no filtering software/firewall app etc in place to prevent inside computers from communicating with external mail-servers etc. I'd be taking a long, hard look at the sys/network admin to see if they facilitated these actions.

5) This is the reason for an explosion of sensationalist news to deflect public attention

From what? Seems the Gonzales case is getting ugly and this will just add to it.

6) This proves a corrupt chief-of-staff

Sweeping generalization.

7) This is the tip of a massive iceberg

[Ren & Stimpy announcer]
Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.
[/Ren & Stimpy announcer]

That being said, we certainly have the ingredients for at least a reasonably serious "potentially confirmed" conspiracy.

What do JREF members who are active in this forum think?

Now, I realize the list above does not necessarily represent what you think, my response format was just a matter of convenience.

I think things like this, and the Watergate tapes, and Iran-Contra docs, and Enron docs, etc are very much worthy of investigation. The thing that rubs me the wrong way is how often conclusions are made before all the evidence is gathered. I think that's why I admire Woodward and Bernstein so much, they did true investigation. They had the nose and sense to know when to investigate, they were thorough and let the evidence lead to the conclusion.

 

[uk_dave]

Several White House staffers, some of which

It...er... does lack the 'tentacles' of a really good conspiracy theory.

 

[Arkan_Wolfshade]

In tangentially related news:
http://it.slashdot.org/it/07/04/12/2323232.shtml

 

[Horatius]

2) Official White House Emails Were Deleted: The private systems used by the White House staffers were designed to automatically delete old emails every 30 days. This is in contradiction to federal law that requires all official communications by White House staff to be securely retained.

I'd want to know what consittutes an "official" communication under the law they refer to, and if the deleted e-mails actually count as such. It's possible they're equivocating on the definitions. I know in my work, e-mail isn't official in any real sense. Anything important is sent in actual mail, often registered mail.

Also, I'd like to know what constitutes "securely retained" as well. Is a purely electronic copy sufficient? Or is there some little old lady who is supposed to print out and retain copies of certain e-mails?

 

[chipmunk stew]

In my mind, this has the makings of a scandal with some conspiratorial elements, but not of the type of intricate, micro-planned and -managed, omnipotent conspiracy that is commonly implied by the term "conspiracy theory".