Some of you wrote me yesterdy off list to say you could not access my letter on the Washington Post's web site, as it is one that requires registration.  I don't want to do a cut and paste of the entire letter as published as I think there may be a copyright issue.  But I can copy and paste from the version in my e-mail exchange with the Post's editor.  The letter was published nearly as written, with only a few words modified between what I've pasted below and what was printed.

As you read the letter, please consider that the U.S. Archivist is handicapped by the fact tht s/he cannot speak in court except through lawyers working for the Attorney General.  Since the Attorney General is a Presidential appointee and often seems to protect White House interests, this can be a real problem. 

It is like you going to court to sue your neighbor and being forced to use as your attorney the brother-in-law of your neighbor.  As is the case with the Archivist, you would not have the option of asking for a different, unbiased, attorney or seeking to hire someone else.  You would be stuck with the brother-in-law and might well end up with "your" lawyer substantially weakening your case by presenting it in a way that favors your neighbor, makes selective use of facts, undermines your own testimony, etc. 

I rarely see this mentioned in letters or op eds, one reason I shook my head over the relatively pointless arguments in the press about Allen Weinstein's scholarship.  However good a scholar he is, once he becomes U.S. Archivist, he is a subordinate officer of the President of the United States, not a member of a mythical fourth branch of government.

BTW, when I asked Archives List members to vote on whether I, Maarja Krusten, could work successfully at the National Archives during the tenure of Allen Weinstein, the vote turned out to be unanimously "no."  Many of you said nice things about me, which I appreciate.  But, as one voter put it, at NARA "you could not be the advocate for records that you are."  That told me a lot about how people perceive the National Archives.  Thanks to all of you who took the time to vote! 

Here's the preliminary edit of my letter to the editor which was published essentially with the same wording at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42684-2005Feb21.html

"The Feb. 7 editorial "A New Archivist" overlooked the pressures someone in
this position may face.

I once was an archivist responsible for screening for public release
the Nixon historical records held by the National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA). In 1992 I testified in a court case about a dispute
involving Richard Nixon's attempts to limit disclosures. I and several
archivists had met with John Fawcett, a NARA official, in 1989 to protest
a request we had received to delete information from Watergate special
prosecutor tapes.

We argued for referral to a high-level board established by regulations
to consider deletions being sought by the former president. We sought the
protection lawmakers had provided to insulate us from backdoor pressure,
but we failed in our pleas. It was as if Congress never had spoken.

The NARA inspector general later looked at the dispute, recording in a
document released under the Freedom of Information Act how my colleagues
expressed anguish about being asked to take actions that "would mislead the
public."

Mr. Nixon was a party to the 1992 court case. Tellingly, the Justice
Department argued in a pleading that because no researchers had challenged
the earlier opening of Watergate tapes, belated allegations about their
handling were moot. But researchers could not have protested Mr. Nixon's
role because the government had concealed it.

Was our experience an aberration, or will power continue to trump
regulations?
MAARJA KRUSTEN
Arlington"


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