Opinion
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Browner has history of deceit on government files
By: Mark Tapscott
Editorial Page Editor
07/09/09 10:16 AM EDT
Obama White House climate czar Carol Browner's instruction to auto executives to"write nothing down" on those secret negotiations to jump the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards up significantly higher was not the former EPA head's first time for trying to suppress official documents.
Soon after leaving EPA at the end of the Clinton administration, Browner was implicated in a federal court decision against EPA for destroying official computer files. Here's how the AP reported the decision:
"A federal judge held the Environmental Protection Agency in contempt Thursday for destroying computer files during the Clinton administration that had been sought by a conservative legal foundation.
"U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth also ordered the EPA to pay the Landmark Legal Foundation's legal fees and costs because the agency disobeyed his order to preserve the electronic records of former chief Carol Browner.
"Lamberth ordered the sanctions because he said the EPA had shown 'contumacious conduct' - obstinate resistance to authority."
It has been suggested that one reason President Barack Obama appointed Browner to a White House "czar" position is precisely that such appointees advise the chief executive directly and thus are not subject to the normal disclosure rules, thanks to executive privilege.
The full text of the AP story, written by John Solomon, who is now the editor of The Washington Times, is here.
Landmark Legal Foundation is the brainchild of former Reagan administration Justice Department official Mark Levin, better known these days for his Talk Radio program and for his many bull-dog appearances on cable tv. His most recent book, "Liberty and Tyranny," has been a hot-seller this year.
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