The imperial presidency has ruled again. Says King George: We are not amused by this Freedom of Information Act thing the little people have set before us. The nerve of those Americans, to suggest that the White House Office of Administration should abide by this irritating law!

But, yes, Americans do have the nerve to insist that this office is indeed covered by FOIA. And, yes, it does have to deliver the latest request, stemming from the search for an estimated 5 million e-mails missing from White House computers. Precisely what happened to those messages, important evidence in an inquiry over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, is the question Office of Administration records could answer.

Most of the White House is not subject to the FOIA, but certain elements are. Links walking citizens through the process of filing an information sit in plain view on the agency Web site, which also states that office FOIA regulations are "being updated."

Oh, really? Why should that be?

It appears that the Bush administration will say anything, try anything to avert public accountability over the U.S. attorney scandal. This latest dodge is just as ridiculous as the vice president's claim that his office was a separate branch of government and thus impervious to meddlesome information requests.

Just as ludicrous — and just as infuriating.