U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has ruled that the Office of Administration doesn't have to jump through hoops to provide either the emails or an excuse of what happened to them. From Law.com:
The functions of the Office of Administration "are strictly administrative," Kollar-Kotelly ruled.
Kollar-Kotelly said the Office of Administration has no authority over others in the executive branch and that the office is exclusively dedicated to providing services to the Executive Office of the President.
Since its creation in 1978, the Office of Administration has responded to FOIA requests. But the Bush White House reversed that policy in August 2007 in the lawsuit filed by CREW.
Kollar-Kotelly's decision closes off one avenue of inquiry because while CREW is appealing, time is running out, with just seven months remaining in office for the Bush administration.
But CREW still has another case in front of the courts on this issue. So all is not dead-ended yet. Don't you just love that BushCo reversed an old policy after CREW filed it's first case on this issue? Fuckers...
