You’ve probably heard by now of CREW’s discovery that strange things are afoot at the Circle Rove. Specifically, it appears that at least 50 White House staffers have been using RNC email accounts for correspondence in direct contravention of the Presidential Records Act (44 U.S.C. section 2203) dictating the preservation of White House communication. Oh, and not to mention that the use of external email servers is, according to White House Spokesperson, John Stanzel, specifically prohibited by internal policy as well.

Well, we all know that these silly laws and policies are sooo pre-911 and the administration has now admitted that as many as 5 million RNC email records are “missing” for at least 15 staffers including Karl Rove. The total extent of damage is unclear at present as White House claims continue to evolve alongside their spin du jour. The only thing we know at this point is that that we are looking at a modern version of Nixon’s notorious 18 minutes.

Not to beleaguer the obvious, but losing email records is nothing like misplacing a box of archived papers. In fact, though the White House would have us simple folk believe otherwise, it is virtually impossible (pun intended). Whenever you send electronic communication, a copy is stored on the personal hard disk and server account of both the sender and recipient. This says nothing about the myriad relays through which it passes along the way.

Basically, tossing a bunch of mail into your recycle bin merely destroys your mail program’s record of the email, never the file itself. For this to occur requires special software to make multiple passes through your storage to overwrite the previous data. Of course, this is only effective on your local computer and the process must be repeated for the server as well as whatever archival system with which the server interfaces. Oh, and let’s not forget that this entire process must be repeated for each and every recipient throughout the planet.

Simply put, the complexities involved in destroying email records are so vast that the courts have long stopped accepting claims of missing emails. The RNC’s claim that Rove may have personally deleted the emails is disingenuous. At best, it will distract the public’s attention by focusing on Rove rather than the emails themselves. And if they are willing to cast a shadow on their golden goose, the “missing” emails must be juicy indeed.

So … what do you think they’re hiding? Don’t forget to vote in the poll at the top-left, or suggest your own in the comments section.