Lois Lerner emails reveal gaping open-records loophole

Washington Times ^ | 7/20/14 | S.A. Miller & Stephen Dinan

[Nachum]

The Lois G. Lerner emails released this month revealed a potentially huge loophole in federal open-records practices when an IRS tech staffer acknowledged that the agency doesn’t regularly store — and never checks — instant message chats as official government records. Analysts say there is no question that the Internal Revenue Service and all other federal agencies should be storing chats and even cellphone text messages that may constitute official government documents, but a check by The Washington Times suggests that hardly any agency is doing so. Of 17 agencies surveyed by The Times, just two said they had policies

[Nachum]

The list, Ping

Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list

http://www.nachumlist.com/

[Blood of Tyrants]

We no longer have a government that is answerable to anyone.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Only Republicans are required to follow those laws, silly.

[pgyanke]

I’m in the Securities business. FINRA requires such retention. There is no way this is an oversight.

[Enchante]

govt bureaucrats warning each other about how to avoid Congressional oversight!! Decent, honest, accountable govt officials would be concerned with how to create the most accurate and comprehensive records for oversight and future planning. Instead, Lerner and friends are concerned only with how to avoid scrutiny of their politicized, dishonest activities....

[emphasis added] “I was cautioning folks about email and how we have had several occasions where Congress has asked for emails and there has been an electronic search for responsive emails — so we need to be cautious about what we say in emails,” Ms. Lerner wrote.

[Fungi]

P> Bingo! The slave has become the master. What was the original Boston Tea Party of 1773 about? It was about a 4-cent tax on tea. FOUR CENTS! 4 cents for those in the low information crowd. Look where we are now. And you wonder why the slave has become the master and refuses any and all attempts to take that power away? The IRS is above the law--it IS the law. No! Not in my book.

[hometoroost]

Doesn’t sound as much like a loophole as it does a wilful circumvention of the law.

[Enchante]

absolutely no way there are any oversights about such policies and practices for huge sensitive govt. bureaucracies

even smallish pvt. companies of 25 employees are aware of the various document and records issues

No remotely competent manager or IT person does not know what the issues and options are. For the IRS to fail to retain records while permitting employees to utilize these modes of communication is mind-boggling.... oh, but not surprising!

[MeshugeMikey]

I'll look into this right away"

[uncommonsense]

The SEC and IRS requires companies to log and store all email and text communications.

Rules for thee and not for me.

[The Antiyuppie]

“I’m in the Securities business. FINRA requires such retention. There is no way this is an oversight.”

Being somewhat familiar with the high levels of scrutiny in that business, I’d like you to expound on what would happen to you (personally) as well as what would happen to your employer if you did a “Lois Lerner” at work.

[Jet Jaguar]

Bump

[WILLIALAL]

....There is no way this is an oversight....

I agree, but this is going in the wrong direction. Most if not all of Lerner’s data that was on her crashed hard drive was stored, including her emails. If they weren’t, tell me how she was able to continue day to day operations with a new blank hard drive with none of her old data on it? No one in a position as high as hers would be able to continue functioning. No files, no emails.
She would be a lost soul sitting alone in her office staring at a blank computer screen.
I will bet her computer, if it did in deed crash, was up and running that very day with all her old data reloaded. Thats why you have an IT department. Its happened to me and all data was able to be reloaded effortlessly.

[hosepipe]

Whats legal is what Holder says is legal...

[TChad]

When are we going to hear from IRS techs who actually understand how their backup system works, and know whether or not IRS IM traffic can be traced.

Just because Lerner's email and IM data is not on her computer does not mean it is not on other computers.

[ozdragon]

They already have her emails and contact lists from before and after the crash. Use that to create a list of people with whom she corresponded.
Subpoena those contacts to turn over all emails sent by or received by those contacts with Lois Lerner

[VTenigma]

It’s not a “loophole” it’s criminal obviscation of the law.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Eschew obfuscation.

[GOPJ]

I’m in the Securities business. FINRA requires such retention. There is no way this is an oversight.

It seems impossible that it's an oversight...