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Lawmaker wants investigation of Philip Morris document deletions 

A leading anti-tobacco lawmaker on Thursday asked a congressional committee to investigate Philip Morris USA for destroying e-mail relevant to a Justice Department lawsuit.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said Philip Morris deleted information about cigarette marketing, government lobbying and the health effects of smoking, violating a 1999 court order that the company preserve the documents.

Waxman pointed to a letter from a lawyer representing Philip Morris sent last summer to the judge hearing the case, which stated that 11 employees' e-mail messages were deleted before the documents could be printed and filed. . .

''This was a matter we brought to the court's attention,'' Ohlemeyer said. ''We continue to do what the law requires of us.''

Waxman said that Congress should investigate how many documents were destroyed, whether they can be recovered, and why Philip Morris did not have a better system to preserve electronic documents.

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