The National Archives and Records Administration has asked representatives of former presidents and vice presidents from the Reagan administration to search their private papers and collections for any records that should have been deposited in the archives under the Presidential Records Act.
In a letter to the designated representatives for the presidents and vice presidents of the six administrations that have held office since the enactment of the Presidential Records Act, Nara said the need to comply with the Watergate-era law does not end when a President is White. leaves the House.
“The responsibility for compliance with the PRA does not diminish after the end of administration. Therefore, we request that you evaluate any material placed outside the NARA that pertains to the administration for which you are a designated act as a representative to determine whether a body of material previously believed to be of a personal nature may inadvertently be presidential or vice presidential records subject to PRA, whether classified or unclassified .
The letter, first reported by CNN, was sent to former presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George HW Bush and Ronald Reagan, and former vice presidents Mike Pence, Joe Biden, Dick Cheney, al . Gore and Dan Quayle. The request to examine records inadvertently withheld from the archives extends to all Presidential Records Act material, not just classified documents.
It also noted that recent developments have focused on classified information in the possession of former presidents and vice presidents, and stressed that “all presidential records of every administration since Reagan” need to be placed in the archives’ custody. is, “irrespective of classification status”.
representatives of Mr. Obama, Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gore have told Independent There are no classified records in possession of the former office bearers.
The oldest living former president, Jimmy Carter, was not required to submit his records to the archives because he was not bound by the Presidential Records Act, although he was the chief executive who signed it into law.
Mr. Pence’s ex-White House counsel and Nara’s current representative, Greg Jacobs, sent a letter to the agency on Jan. 22 asking ex-presidents and former vice-presidents to turn to their own records for material in the archives. A search request has been received. After informing authorities that Mr. Pence’s personal attorney had “facilitated” the transfer of documents with classification markings to FBI agents on January 19, Mr. Pence discovered the documents three days later and kept them in a safe at his home. kept.