Posted on 10/09/2014 9:34:35 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told a federal court that it may have lost the text messages at the center of a lawsuit by a libertarian think tank.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) sued the EPA last year in federal court to compel the release of text messages to and from Administrator Gina McCarthy and her predecessor under the Freedom of Information Act.
In the Tuesday filing to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Justice Department lawyers representing the EPA said the agency will soon file a notice that it may have misplaced records that it was legally required to retain. “Defendant has decided to formally notify the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) about the potential loss of federal records relating to text messages,” the lawyers told the court.
Once it files that notice the CEI’s claim will become moot, since the records do not exist, the agency said. Lawyers will ask the court for a hearing to dismiss the case.
Despite the filing, EPA spokeswoman Liz Purchia said the agency maintains that the text messages neither had to be preserved nor were subject to disclosure. Text messages can legally be deleted, she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
“Liz Purchia said the agency maintains that the text messages neither had to be preserved nor were subject to disclosure. Text messages can legally be deleted, she said”.
Uhmmmm, no they can’t.
Actually, no I have no doubt as to why records are being “distroyed” “lost” “misplaced” etc.
The Big Zero's administration is corrupt to its core.
I bet the NSA has them.
Of course they did. Happens all the time to multiple machines in one company on one subject of interest to the courts. Perfectly understandable. Move on, folks, nothing to see here.
No. But they do 'text message' each other .
Liz Purchia is just trying to split hairs.
There is no difference between text messages and email. Both are forms of communication between gov’t employees conducting official business.
She might as well claim that only typewritten letters were subject to disclosure, but that handwritten notes were not.
Yep and txt messages are stored ubiquitously across the network and backed up.
Didn’t think so; why would D.C. centralize and keep costs low? It’s only taxpayer funds, right.
Hasn’t it been ruled already that a ‘company’ supplied phone conveys no privacy Rights? Course, I’m sure that’s another rule for the masses, not the ‘betters’.
I wonder if they have some kind of inter-dept. chat program?
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