Gibbs: Obama Will Be BlackBerrying
In his first daily news briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs shed new light on President Barack Obama's BlackBerry. He told reporters that the commander-in-chief will have a handheld device that will allow him to "stay in touch with senior staff and a small group of personal friends in a way that will be limited and security is enhanced" to ensure effective, protected communication. Those who will be in touch with Obama via Blackberry will be briefed before he is turned loose with his device, Gibbs said. He declined to provide details about who will and will not have e-mail privileges.
The presumption from the White House counsel's office is that most e-mails will be subject to the Presidential Records Act, which has some narrow exemptions for strictly personal exchanges. "[Obama] believes it's a way of keeping in touch with folks -- a way of doing it outside of getting stuck in a bubble," Gibbs said. He said he has received e-mails from Obama (but not in the last couple of days) that range from strictly business content to questions about why his favorite football team did or didn't perform on any given game.
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