AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ Before the House voted Speaker Tom Craddick out of his powerful job, state officials wiped his computers clean and deleted scores of electronic files — raising concerns that important public records may have been destroyed.
Files on one shared computer network drive were saved, but officials say that unless Craddick specifically requested them, computer hard drives and electronic records associated with individual employees were deleted.
Craddick left the speaker’s office on January 13, returning to the state House as a rank-and-file member without a vast staff and without the sweeping power the presiding officer wields.
Anne Billingsley — spokeswoman for the Texas Legislative Council — says that computers were removed from the speaker’s office to be wiped clean at 5 p.m. on January 12.
Representative Joe Straus — a Republican from San Antonio — was sworn in as speaker at noon the following day.
Craddick’s chief of staff says deleting computer files is standard procedure. But it’s not clear what files were deleted, setting off alarms among government watchdogs.
Fred Lewis, an independent government watchdog, called the deletions “outrageous.”
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.