The White House has acknowledged it recycled back-up tapes of e-mails sent over eight months of 2003, which may mean millions have been lost forever. The taped-over e-mails could include messages discussing the Iraq war and leaking of a CIA officer’s identity. The White House disclosure was forced by a lawsuit brought by private groups. White House spokesman Tony Fratto said there was ‘no basis to say that the White House has destroyed any evidence or engaged in any misconduct’. If the e-mails were not saved, the White House may have violated laws which require the preservation of documents that make up part of presidential and federal records. The possibility that some of the lost e-mails may have dealt with the leaking of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame in 2003 has fuelled interest in the case. The leak resulted in her resignation from the CIA and, three years later, the conviction of top White House aide Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby on charges of obstruction of justice and perjury. ‘Significant’ time period Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew), one of two groups bringing the lawsuit against the White House, says […]