The White House told FOX News that third-party groups sending online petitions to the official administration Web site could be to blame for a rash of e-mails that have gone out to people who never requested them. The theory is that these groups are including the names and e-mails of members and petition-signers along with the petitions themselves, in turn embedding those e-mails into the White House distribution list.

Are there other data mining methods that the White House used to attain individuals emails? Many people who have received the unwanted WH emails have stated that they they’re not members of any organization and have not been advocating for any cause.
“I find it very disturbing and a little scary to say the least,” said Sarah Griffith, who got a widely circulated e-mail on health care reform from senior adviser David Axelrod last week. “I have no idea how they got my e-mail address, and they have it.”

Stinks like "dead fish" in here!

“I have no idea how they got my e-mail address, and they have it.”

There's no need to wonder, and no need to pay any heed to lame excuses provided by the current administration. The federal government has access to any and every email address they desire that passes over any server located in the United States. The 'people' gave them that access with the Patriot Act. Lawmakers let Cheney and Bush dupe them into granting those powers at a moment of weakness, and once given, such powers never seem confined to the promised uses.