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"Fitzgerald wrote that "We have learned that not all e-mail of the Office of Vice President and the Executive Office of President for certain time periods in 2003 was preserved through the normal archiving process on the White House computer system." That statement has fueled much speculation on left-wing blogs that some sort of cover-up has taken place and that the White House has destroyed evidence in the leak investigation. In all the documents made public so far, however, Fitzgerald has not suggested that that has happened."

Tonight on Hardball, Chris Matthews not only accuses the Bush White House of destroying emails, he says, "they have learned the lesson of Watergate....destroy the evidence".

True to form for Matthews, he harkens back to Nixon days, totally ignoring Bill Clinton. I post the following to remind everyone...a walk over Clinton's Bridge, back to the 1990s. To real, not wished for, "missing emails".

(and there's plenty more you can find by googling "Beth Nolan White House emails") _______________________________________________________

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-7_13_00.html

"July 13, 2000

The Case of the Missing Emails
By Tom Bevan

"We're trying to do an incredibly complicated task. We're doing our best to preserve the integrity of the material." -White House spokesman Jake Siewert responding to why the Clinton Administration has - after more than 20 weeks - been unable to produce any of the "missing" emails ordered by the U.S. District Court.

With all due respect to Mr. Siewert, we're sure the task of recovering lost emails is difficult - especially when your boss wants them to stay lost - but to suggest that the White House is somehow concerned about the "integrity" of the information contained in the emails is laughable. Should any emails ever be recovered, they will have been vetted by Clinton operatives to insure they contain no incriminating evidence against the President or the Vice President.

Nevertheless, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth will be presiding over an evidentiary hearing today on the email matter - a hearing he ordered earlier this week when the Clinton administration failed to produce any of the missing after more than 5 months. Lamberth's frustration with the administration's stonewalling was evident in his order on Monday:

"Therefore, had the EOP (Executive Office of the President) begun copying tapes, not only would some data now be available for searching, but also the EOP could have tested its capability to complete the restoration process, modified its plan as necessary, and developed an estimate for when the entire process could be completed. The EOP did not do this, however. Nor has it provided the court with any explanation of why it did not do so. Instead, after twenty weeks, the EOP has not made one concrete step towards producing any of the non-ARMS e-mail, and can not give the court any estimate of when it might do so."

Clinton's utter disregard for the law (the emails in question are under supoena by a federal grand jury and 3 Congressional committees) and the media's unwillingness to force the President and Vice President to be held accountable for the stonewalling, half truths and lies that have become the hallmark of their administration is disgraceful.

Regardless of the outcome of today's hearing, don't expect the missing emails to be popping up any time soon. With Clinton busy shaping his legacy at Camp David, Gore gearing up for the Democratic convention and the media looking the other way, there is absolutely no chance of the White House producing anything until after the election. But then, at least, it will be comforting to know that the information provided - unlike the administration - will have integrity."

Tom Bevan writes for RealClearPolitics "