This week, a federal judge ruled against the Bush administration over the dispute about the White House email system. The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, and the National Security Archive, will now be allowed to pursue their case in court to force the administration to recover missing email messages. The administration had argued that the court didn’t have the authority to force the issue, and petitioned to throw out the lawsuits by the two groups–a typical response for this administration, which has consistently held that they are above both domestic and international law.

The missing emails deal with White House business during Bush’s first term, when the Republican National Committee had a policy of purging emails, including emails to and from White House officials, after 30 days. Earlier this year, the RNC announced that it “had no intention of trying to restore the missing White House e-mails.” During that time, it was common for former presidential advisor Karl Rove, as well as other officials, to use RNC email accounts for government business, contrary to rules that business should be conducted through official government channels. Sarah Palin caught flak for doing the same thing, conducting state business through her personal Yahoo account. Besides using the RNC system, there are also allegations that other Bush administration emails have gone missing. The administration scrapped an archiving system that had been put in place by former president Clinton.

The large gap accounts for a big part of the historical record, including the buildup to the Iraq War.

Email archiving isn’t that hard. There is plenty of technology available. Why didn’t the Bush administration avail itself of some of that technology? Perhaps there is a coverup afoot?

This week’s ruling is a big victory for the American people. The law is clear, and all politicians–including the President–should comply. All government electronic documents and emails must be archived and preserved in order to provide transparency. Palin was wrong to use Yahoo for state business, and Bush and his administration was wrong to use RNC email systems for government business. This must come to an end.