[IP] Why Bush Signed Off From Cyberspace
------- Original message -------
From: <eekid@xxxxxxx>
Sent: 15/4/'05, 10:46
Mr. Farber,
I sent this to you this morning but for some reason, it was returned as
undeliverable.
Jerry
-----Original Message-----
From: EEkid
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 6:04:57 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Subject: Why Bush Signed Off From Cyberspace
Why Bush Signed Off From Cyberspace
'I Don't Want You Reading My Personal Stuff,' He Tells Editors
By DEB RIECHMANN, AP
WASHINGTON (April 14) - President Bush said Thursday that the public should
know as much as possible about government decision-making, but national
security and
personal privacy - including his - need to be protected.
''I believe in open government,'' Bush said at a meeting of the American
Society of Newspaper Editors. ''I've always believed in open government. I
don't e-mail
, however. And there's a reason: I don't want you reading my personal stuff.''
Bush once was a prolific e-mailer. But he signed off from cyberspace just
before taking office in 2001 after lawyers told him that his presidential
e-mail commu
nications would be subject to legal and archival requirements.
''There's got to be a certain sense of privacy,'' Bush said. ''You're entitled
to how I make decisions and you're entitled to ask questions, which I answer. I
d
on't think you're entitled to read my mail between my daughters and me.''
White House records are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, which
allows reporters and others to obtain unclassified government records that
official
s would not otherwise release.
Official presidential documents are subject to eventual release under the
federal Presidential Records Act unless they are classified or otherwise exempt
for re
asons, including personal privacy.
Steve Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists' Secrecy
Project, said, ''Protecting the president's personal e-mail does not in any way
just
ify the pattern of withholding that we've seen.''
Aftergood said classification activity is increasing, records are being
withdrawn from government Web sites and access barriers are being put in place
at readin
g rooms at federal agencies.
''Information which used to be easy to obtain is now difficult or impossible to
get,'' he said. ''Trivial things such as the Pentagon phone directory have been
marked for official use only and are no longer public.''
Claiming national security concerns, the Bush administration clamped down on
declassification of government documents after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The trend toward keeping more government information secret began even before
that and those who advocate for openness in government are worried that the
freedo
m of U.S. citizens is eroding with every file they are not allowed to read.
Just a month after the terrorist attacks, the administration set a higher
threshold for releasing information under the Freedom of Information Act.
Under the Clinton administration, federal agencies were urged to resolve
disclosure decisions by releasing, not withholding, government information. In
October
2001, however, former Attorney General John Ashcroft changed that policy.
In a memo, Ashcroft required federal agencies to carefully consider national
security, law enforcement concerns and personal privacy before releasing
informatio
n. Ashcroft reassured the agencies that the Justice Department would defend
their decisions not to release any information there was a ''sound legal
basis'' for
withholding.
Bush said he knows there is ''tension'' about how the government decides what
can be released without jeopardizing the fight against terrorism and that
there's
a ''suspicion'' his administration is too security-conscious.
He said he will review a Senate bill to create a 16-member panel that would
recommend ways to speed FOIA requests, which can drag on for years.
''We look forward to analyzing and working with legislation that would help put
a free press' mind at ease that you're not being denied information you shouldn'
t see,'' Bush told the editors.
''I will tell you, though, I am worried about things getting in the press that
puts people's lives at risk. It's that judgment about what would put someone's
li
fe at risk and what doesn't is where there's tension,'' the president said.
Bush refused to discuss a high-profile case about a news column that disclosed
the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame. Her name was first published in a
2003
column by Robert Novak, who cited two unidentified senior administration
officials as his sources.
The White House has been criticized for outing Plame's identity. Matthew Cooper
of Time magazine and Judith Miller of the New York Times have refused to disclos
e their sources, which federal prosecutors say have stalled their case into who
leaked the information.
Asked whether he thought the reporters were right not to reveal their sources,
Bush said: ''You think I'm going there? You're crazy.''
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