Press

PRESS

January 15, 2009

Court Orders Records Preserved in CREW’s Lawsuit Against the White House Office of Administration

Lawsuits, Federal Agencies, Office of Administration, The White House, Transparency, Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - Today, Judge Colleen Kollar Kotelly renewed a stay in CREW v. Office Administration (OA), requiring OA to preserve at the White House all records relevant to CREW’s lawsuit. The records will stay at OA, rather than be transferred to the Archives as would otherwise be the case. In 2007, CREW filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with OA seeking records regarding the disappearance of millions of emails from White House servers. Last year, Judge Kotelly ruled OA is not an agency and, therefore, not subject to the FOIA. CREW appealed and is awaiting a decision.

CREW's chief counsel Anne Weismann said, "Today’s ruling ensures that should CREW ultimately prevail, we will have access to documents that shed light on what happened to the emails."

Click here to read Judge Kotelly's preservation order.

Click here to read Judge Kotelly's memorandum opinion.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions. For more information, please visit www.citizensforethics.org or contact Garrett Russo at 202.408.5565 or grusso@citizensforethics.org