Declining Appeal
The Bush Administration is lying very still and hoping troubles pass them by on the Presidential papers front.
The President has declined to appeal a federal judge’s invalidating part of a Bush Executive Order, part of which effectively hid papers forever. But the judge did not yet touch Bush’s giving Presidential descendants right to control papers into the future. Bush also gave ex Vice Presidents and their descendants the same, although they had never had such powers previously.
The Executive Order has slowed public release of past President’s papers to a crawl. Legislation to overturn all of Bush’s Order is stalled by a Republican Senate “hold.”
Is the strategy to keep as little of this as possible before the public for as long as possible?