You are free to use any methods necessary, but I want them alive. No disintegrations.

Some form of these remarks has been posted all over the political interwebs, but Mark Kleiman has my favorite take: What can Congress do to compel computers computers and servers from the White House over their objections? The executive branch claims, or so it seems, that the White House is imbued with executive privilege, that a penumbra of protection assures all their activities. To complaints that the use of RNC e-mail is a transparent ploy to evade the document preservation standards of the Presidential Records Act, Karl Rove has said (I paraphrase) that he is the Dungeonmaster; Jedi Majority Leader mind-tricks don't work on him; and when Congress is ready and able to tap four blue mana and roll a 2d12, they can put in a request to the Justice Department to execute Contempts of Congress and wait for the matter to reach the Supreme Court. Kleiman's answer to the White House is not my favorite because it's the most accurate—I don't know how this works—but it is the most delicious. Deploy the Sargent at Arms!