The White House’s new filing came as Dunlap urged the court to order the commission to preserve all records pending compliance with the judge’s order. Government attorneys asked the judge to toss out her order, saying it was moot now that the panel is no more.
In Wednesday’s conference call, Justice Department lawyers reiterated that the commission produced no findings and that the White House Counsel’s Office and the office of records management would decide what records to archive, according to Dunlap’s lawyers.
The call did not clear up what former commissioners or staff could do with other data or materials gathered or produced for the panel, said Melanie Sloan, senior adviser to American Oversight, a watchdog group representing Dunlap. The judge ordered more briefings.