Key Documents Deleted from White House Web site

Allegedly the Bush White House is deleting and/or altering certain documents which should always remain public.

Scott Althaus, professor of political science and communication, and Kalev Leetaru, coordinator of research in the Cline Center for Democracy, recently found that the U.S. White House Web site has modified, and in some cases, deleted key documents in the public record.

When the U.S. invaded Iraq, the U.S. government released a statement on the White House Web site listing the nations involved in the "Coalition of the Willing." However, over a period of several years, different versions of the three releases all appear to be originals. In the case of two releases from the U.S. government Web site, the original document is completely missing from the site.

"I think that it raises the question of whether or not we can trust the government to maintain public records of things that were said or done that later prove embarrassing," Althaus said.

A proofreader reviewing an article Althaus co-authored discovered that a previously recorded Web address led to a blank page. Althaus confirmed that the document had been deleted. Related lists of coalition countries also appeared to contradict one another.

"It could be what we found is limited," Althaus said. "But if it is not, it certainly opens the finding up to larger questions."

According to the Cline Center for Democracy Web site, these findings suggest a pattern of revision and removal from the public record that spans from 2003 to at least 2005.

Source