CREW and Open Government Advocates Call For Congressional Hearings on Destruction of DOJ Emails
Washington, D.C. - Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and 45 open-government groups sent a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the House Oversight and Government Reform and Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committees requesting hearings into the destruction of Department of Justice (DOJ) emails in violation of the Federal Records Act (FRA).
During an internal DOJ investigation into the production of the infamous “torture memos,” it was discovered that relevant emails of two of the memos’ authors – John Yoo and Patrick Philbin – had been permanently deleted.
The destruction of these important government records is a loss for government transparency and accountability. If the FRA – which requires the preservation of records of legal, financial, and historical significance – cannot be enforced, the Act must be reformed.
Click here to read the letter.
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 David Merchant at 202.408.5565 or dmerchant@citizensforethics.org
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