Congressmen Accuse GM Of Destroying Documents

Two House of Representatives Congressmen allege that GM is destroying documents, emails, and other material needed for ongoing investigations in the U.S. House Oversight Committee. U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio sent a letter to GM CEO Ed Whitacre urging to stop destroying the documents in question:

“In light of these ongoing investigations, we are deeply disturbed to learn that GM is engaging in a continuous process of destroying documents relevant to the Committee’s oversight efforts,” reads the letter.

The letter also states that the Representatives have”no evidence” to show that GM is deliberately destroying documents needed for the investigations but notes that if GM continues to destroy documents, the two Congressmen would consider the act as “evidence of criminal misconduct” and alert the U.S. Department of Justice.

The letter comes as a response after the House committee heard testimony from GM’s Senior Attorney, Lucy Clark Dougherty. In her testimony, Dougherty said that GM’s document policy calls for all electronic communications to be deleted after sixty days of its inception. She also stated that GM has no backup system to retain copies of communication.

GM spokesperson Greg Martin said, “General Motors’ document retention policies comply with the law. We have just received the letter and will respond appropriately.”

GM is currently under three investigations by the House Oversight Committee. These include GM’s ad that aired on April in which CEO Ed Whitacre annonced GM’s repayment of all government loans; possible decisions by GM to build new plants to please politicians; and a possible secret deal with the Obama administration to support new fuel economy standards. Color us skeptics, but does it get any more conspiracy theory than this?