Fmr. Top DOJ Official: Clinton Likely Committed ‘Biggest Violation of Federal Records Act in History
...some laws and legal obligations are only civil in nature, for which there exist only monetary or administrative sanctions at best. Such is the case with federal records laws such as the Federal Records Act and the Freedom of Information Act...
The Federal Records Act (or “FRA”) is a decades-old federal law that governs the creation, maintenance, preservation, and disposition of federal records, regardless of form or format, including electronic records such as e-mail. Simply put, it tells those who work for the federal government that they must document their work and keep such records safe during their tenures. Then, when someone leaves a federal position, the FRA requires that all such records be reviewed in conjunction with an agency records officer so that the agency (i.e., not the employee alone) can make decisions about which records will be preserved. Then the employee is required to sign a document certifying that this has been done comprehensively and accurately, lest that not be the case.
Any failure to meet these legal obligations, from the beginning of an employee’s tenure to the end, is punishable with administrative sanctions up to and including dismissal. And the entire process is overseen by agency records officers, by an agency’s chief records officer, and by the FRA experts at the National Archives and Records Administration (or “NARA”), who hold ultimate responsibility for making sure that agencies properly implement the FRA.
The importance of the FRA’s proper implementation becomes quite evident when, for example, questions are raised about the propriety of some agency activity (sometimes in full “controversy” or even “scandal” mode) and the records pertaining to that activity need to be reviewed by an agency inspector general, by federal law enforcement personnel, or even by congressional investigators on behalf of a legislative committee. If relevant records have not been properly preserved, then such inquiries are greatly impaired and sometimes the word “cover-up” is used.
Furthermore, even inquiries of a lesser magnitude depend upon a foundation of proper FRA compliance. When a Freedom of Information Act (or “FOIA”) request is made to a federal agency, for example, that agency has a legal obligation to search for all agency records responsive to that request’s subject matter. But if a responsive record is not maintained, in a readily searchable form or location, the FOIA can readily be circumvented as a result.
Recently, these two key civil laws have figured prominently in the wide-ranging controversies surrounding Hillary Clinton’s exclusive use of a personal e-mail account, compounded by a private e-mail server, during nearly the entirety of her four-year tenure.
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Yet there are absolutely no penalties provided by law for this misconduct. The FRA, if violated, does provide a basis for some action being taken against an employee — but only a personnel-type administrative action that simply does not work if the employee is “long gone.”
http://lawnewz.com/politics/hillary-clinton-absolutely-violated-the-federal-records-act-heres-why-she-cant-be-punished/
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Go FBI! Help US take OUR country back!
