Historians Fight Bush/Cheney to Stop Destruction of Presidential Records

Posted by Amanda, Think Progress at 2:46 PM on September 8, 2008.

This effort has taken on increased urgency as the Bush administration prepares to leave office.

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Thirty-two of the nation’s leading historians have sent letters to congressional leaders calling on them to strengthen the Presidential Records Act (PRA). The effort, led by the Center for American Progress Action Fund and joined by the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the National Coalition for History, notes that while the PRA requires the administration to preserve presidential records, “it fails to provide an effective means of enforcing compliance with that requirement.” (View the letters here and here.)

This effort has taken on increased urgency as the Bush administration prepares to leave office and may be ready to expunge the record on its tenure. Bush has already repeatedly manipulated and rewritten open government laws in order to cover up his wrongdoings:

– The White House is “missing as many as 225 days of e-mail dating back to 2003 and there is little if any likelihood a recovery effort will be completed by the time the Bush administration leaves office.”

– In 2001, President Bush issued an executive order “allowing former presidents to review executive documents before they can be released.” Last year, however, a U.S. District Judge invalidated the order, ruling that former presidents would be able to “indefinitely” keep their documents secret.

– Bush plans to solicit contributions from foreign donors for his $200 million presidential library, but plans on keeping their identities secret.

CAPAF Senior Fellow Mark Agrast told ThinkProgress that although the “prospects for legislative action during the remainder of the 110th Congress are not promising, we felt it was important to lay down a marker for the next Congress and the incoming administration before this Congress adjourns.”

CREW and several historian organizations are also filing a separate lawsuit today, “asking a federal judge to declare that Cheney’s records are covered by the Presidential Records Act of 1978 and cannot be destroyed, taken or withheld without proper review.”

Agrast has more here.

Tagged as: bush, cheney, history

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I've been saying for some time now... [Report this comment] Posted by: lexicon on Sep 8, 2008 3:31 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] That when the National Archives/Library of Congress come to fetch the 8 years of Bush Administration records, the whole lot of it will fit in two or three econoline minivans. The rest of it will be lost, redacted, held privileged, folded, stapled, mutilated, the dog ate it, etc. The "paper trail" of 8 years of the executive branch of the largest government on earth, will be smaller than the official records of Wasilla, AK for the same period. (which is ALSO said to be rather "records-challenged" during the incumbency of certain previous mayors...) and there's precious little we'll be able to do about it. Oh, also...look for a bunch of people connected to the administration to start dying, in a statistically uncharacteristic way. lexicon [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Didn't Bush stop [Report this comment] Posted by: JSquercia on Sep 8, 2008 4:49 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] I may be wrong but I believe that Bush stopped the release Reagan's records and also the investigation into JFK's Assiniation . [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: Didn't Bush stop Posted by: leTerrassier » Didn't he also stop release of Bush 41's records? n/m Posted by: PaulC Congressional Con-Job [Report this comment] Posted by: QQOblivion on Sep 9, 2008 7:36 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] The historians want CONGRESS to strengthen the Presidential Records Act?! Don't they know that it was Congress that passed the FISA "compromise", which basically ended all attempts to find out the truth regarding at least part of what the Bush administration has been up to? Congress WANTS the Bush administration's secrets to remain secret, you see. The historians aren't going to get ANY help from them. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] The BUSH Abomination: What a lying sack of SH-T! [Report this comment] Posted by: williameon on Sep 10, 2008 3:04 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] The Lying, Spying, Treasonous BUSH Abomination covers its Tracks! Get out of Dodge! There's a new Sheriff in Town. Uniquely American, Steal everything and shred the FACTS. BUSH! Where’s the Accountability? MISSION ADMONISHED! The facts still remain What is, is! Maybe the next time The Chimp looks under his desk for the W.M.D.s. “No W.M.D. here” He can pull out some of his other Atrocities and Crimes against Humanity? Iraq Katrina Pollution: Rescinding of 400+ Pollution Laws Privatization Mass Murder The Tens of Millions he Banished into Poverty The Stolen Trillions Media Consolidation Rampant GREED The FAUX Media and Rove’s Propaganda Ministry To name a Few. The Evil Emperor decrees: Let them eat Pie in The Sky! All for Me and NONE 4 YOU! Is that fair and balanced? What family owns 50% of the Worlds Wealth? Who are the 15,000 Richest Families in America? Who own 99% of Everything. A DARK Army is camped outside of San Diego: Beware! The Corpirates [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] This may be the single most naive piece ever posted on Alternet. [Report this comment] Posted by: Ian MacLeod on Sep 10, 2008 3:06 AM Current rating: 4 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] What historians want to have preserved is everything Bush and Cheney cannot allow ANY part of the public to ever see. They are, in essence, asking for the receipts and so on for the laws, the commons and the public, all sold by this administration, and THEN they want to know what they were thinking as well. (Hint: MORE!!!). Hell, Cheney alone would set the White House on fire - or call down a "burn it all down" airstrike - before he allowed this stuff to become public. Otherwise, they'd end up all still in prison by the time cockroaches are writing books... Ian [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

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» RE: Didn't Bush stop Posted by: leTerrassier

» Didn't he also stop release of Bush 41's records? n/m Posted by: PaulC

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» RE: Didn't Bush stop Posted by: leTerrassier

» Didn't he also stop release of Bush 41's records? n/m Posted by: PaulC