This issue of White House personnel using RNC email accounts to get around governmental records archiving regulations could turn out to be a very big deal. Rep. Waxman has put the RNC on notice not to destroy any of these emails.
According to the National Journal, about 95% of Karl Rove’s email traffic has been on these RNC email accounts.
Now, I don’t know all the legal and constitutional ins and outs of this debate. But whatever claim the White House may have to protect everyone at the White House from congressional scrutiny by invoking executive privilege, this use of outside private email accounts may turn out to be too clever by half.
Can executive privilege even conceiveably cover emails from the Republican National Committee? By any definition, those aren’t emails written or received by anyone in their capacity as a presidential advisor. They’re private and have nothing to do with the president in his executive capacity.
