Put Nothing in Writing - Ever

Dead pens tell no tales!

Carol Browner, former Clinton administration EPA head and current Obama White House climate czar, instructed auto industry execs "to put nothing in writing, ever" regarding secret negotiations she orchestrated regarding a deal to increase federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-WI, is demanding a congressional investigation of Browner's conduct in the CAFE talks, saying in a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-CA, that Browner "intended to leave little or no documentation of the deliberations that lead to stringent new CAFE standards."

Federal law requires officials to preserve documents concerning significant policy decisions, so instructing participants in a policy negotiation concerning a major federal policy change could be viewed as a criminal act.

One of the big problems with this "czar" business is that these people owe their allegiance only to the president, and that's sometimes a big maybe. They are not confirmed. They have to pass no public scrutiny.

And then they order people to leave no evidence so that they have total deniability if the you-know-what hits the fan. So much for transparency.

It would be a healthy thing for Carol Browner to be brought up on charges.