| Deleting computer files from hard drives and individual employees follows standard legislative procedures, said Craddick's chief of staff Kate Huddleston. But it's not clear what files were deleted, setting off alarms among government watchdogs.
Fred Lewis, an independent government watchdog, called the deletions "outrageous."
"If it's on a state computer, it's a state record. They're not his records. They belong to the people of Texas," Lewis said. "I think there should be an investigation on whether or not he illegally destroyed state records."
Huddleston said a shared network drive that all employees and the speaker could access were retained and taken to Craddick's new office in the capitol. The former speaker took some files off hard drives and a network drive that employees were able to independently access. But Huddleston said she wasn't sure what was kept and what was not.
"I'd love to tell you we have all of it," Huddleston said. "But if he didn't want them ... they were deleted."
[snip]
First Amendment attorney Joe Larsen, board member of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, said he was concerned important data may never be retrieved. Unless officials specifically culled through the files to ensure government records were retained, "then the odds that public information was destroyed are very high."
I love the part about being "standard procedure." So wiping out the evidence is just how we do things in the Texas Lege? And we wonder why we are misgoverned as we are?
Nobody knows what was wiped, nobody thought to give the matter a little thought before the wipe out? If you believe this was just 'business as usual' , I sure don't . The fact the incoming speaker raised not a peep of resistance is also very, very telling!
One person over at the Chronicle suggested that a forensic search of the hard drive could recover some or all of the data. I am willing to wager good money that that/those hard drives are already scrap metal even as I type this posting.
What will be done about this outrage? Answer is absolutely nothing I fear. Is anybody paying attention? Does the concept of transparent, democratic government have no meaning at all in Texas? Will we make the Banana the official fruit of the State and just admit that , as far as her government goes, we are just another Banana Republic. |
