White House email probe still under cover

Where are the White House emails that disappeared from the Bush administration? Who knows? And now the White House has an additional shield in keeping this issue out of the public limelight. A federal appeals court ruled that the White House does not have to make public internal documents that look into the potential disappearance of the Bush emails.

The appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the White House Office of Administration is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. And that means the documents about the missing emails will remain secret. It's a complicated ruling and one that will impact other government agencies and offices that assist the president and his immediate staff.

Because the Office of Administration does not perform "tasks other than operational and administrative support for the President and his staff, we conclude that [it] lacks substantial independent authority and is therefore not an agency under FOIA," wrote Judge Thomas B. Griffith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed the suit in order to reveal the documents. CREW's executive director, Melanie Sloan, told the Washington Post that her organization is unlikely to appeal the ruling. But she said her group and others like it recently sent a letter to the Obama administration urging it to apply freedom-of-information laws to the Office of Administration.

"Transparency and accountability start at home," Sloan said.

For more about the White House email controversy:
- check out this Washington Post article

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