Searching for the Missing Pieces

Why would a lawyer ask the Justice Department to subpoena some of the papers of his own clients -- especially if those clients are the President of the U.S. and his wife? White House senior adviser Bruce Lindsey has a simple . answer: "Privacy." Indeed, subpoenaed papers become part of the record of a criminal investigation, unavailable for release under the Freedom of Information Act and thus shielded more effectively than otherwise from Congress and the press.

Accordingly, on the day last week that the Justice Department received a request under the Freedom of Information Act to make public files on...