Yesterday, a Federal District Court Judge ruled "that the Office of Administration (OA) is not an agency subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)."  CREW will appeal that decision. 

Today's Washington Post included the reactions to the decision from the Bush administration and CREW: 

The White House has been criticized by congressional Democrats, historians and watchdog groups over alleged sloppy retention of e-mails between 2001 and 2005, a period that included the Iraq war.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the White House "welcomed" the decision. CREW's executive director, Melanie Sloan, said in a statement that "we are disappointed in the ruling and believe the judge reached the wrong legal conclusion."

Anne Weismann, chief counsel for CREW, said the group will appeal the decision. She said she is worried that without prompt judicial action, the records will not become public "for many years" after President Bush leaves office.

In another lawsuit, CREW and another group, the National Security Archive, have asked a federal judge to order the Bush administration to take steps to preserve and retain the e-mails in question.