Reagan, Bush Regime Computer Memos Saved by U.S. Archivist

WASHINGTON —  The national archivist has collected 5,000 copies of electronic memos stored by the Ronald Reagan and George Bush administrations on White House computers, the government told a judge Thursday.

In court papers filed in response to an order by U.S. District Judge Charles R. Richey to preserve the computerized memos, the Justice Department said: “The basic implementing steps have now been completed with respect to Bush Administration electronic materials.”

The filing was made on behalf of the archivist of the United States, Don W. Wilson. The Bush Administration initially balked at providing the information, but Richey ruled that it must do so.

“The question of what government officials know and when they knew it has been a key question in not only the Iran-Contra investigations, but also in the Watergate” probe, said the judge, who was appointed to the bench by President Richard M. Nixon.

Bush Administration officials appealed Richey’s order on grounds that it compromised then-President Bush’s right to keep certain records confidential. But a three-judge appellate panel on Jan. 15 upheld much of Richey’s original Jan. 6 order.

The appellate court said White House officials could clean out or write over computer data before the Clinton Administration took over but not before they made backup computer tapes that “faithfully replicate all information removed, deleted or altered, including message logs, user directories and any other information contained in the original system.”

The court papers filed Thursday by the Justice Department said the archivist acquired the backup tapes in line with agreements between himself, former presidents Bush and Reagan and various White House offices, including the National Security Council.