Past US presidents, VPs asked to recheck for classified docs | AP News
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Archives has asked former U.S. presidents and vice presidents to recheck their personal records for any classified documents following the news that President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence had such documents in their possession.
The Archives sent a letter Thursday to representatives of former presidents and vice presidents extending back to Ronald Reagan to ensure compliance with the Presidential Records Act, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press. The act states that any records created or received by the president are the property of the U.S. government and will be managed by the Archives at the end of an administration.
The Archives sent the letter to representatives of former Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, and former Vice Presidents Pence, Biden, Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Dan Quayle.
Responsibility to comply with the Presidential Records Act "does not diminish after the end of an administration," the Archives wrote in the letter. "Therefore, we request that you conduct an assessment of any materials held outside of (the Archives) that relate to the administration for which you serve as a designated representative under the PRA, to determine whether bodies of materials previously assumed to be personal in nature might inadvertently contain Presidential or Vice Presidential records subject to the PRA, whether classified or unclassified."
Spokespeople for former Presidents Trump, Obama, Clinton and former Vice Presidents Pence, Dick Cheney, Al Gore and Dan Quayle did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Freddy Ford, chief of staff to former President George W. Bush, suggested in his response to the Archives that Bush's office did not believe a search was necessary, saying, "Thank you for your note. We understand its purpose and remain confident that no such materials are in our possession."
Biden's lawyers came across classified documents from his time as vice president in a locked cabinet as they were packing up an office he no longer uses in November. Since then, subsequent searches by the FBI and Biden's lawyers have turned up more documents. Former Vice President Pence, too, this week, discovered documents and turned them in after saying previously he did not believe he had any.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment but the searches by Biden's attorneys and the FBI appear to fulfill the Archives' request.
The Archives had no comment.
Handling of classified documents has been a problem off and on for decades, from presidents to Cabinet members and staff across multiple administrations stretching as far back as Jimmy Carter. But the issue has taken on greater significance since former President Donald Trump willfully retained classified material at his Florida estate, prompting the unprecedented FBI seizure of thousands of pages of records last year.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate Trump's handling of the documents, and also Biden's.
It turns out that officials from all levels of government discover they are in possession of classified material and turn it over to authorities at least several times a year, according to another person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of classified documents.
Current and former officials involved in the handling of classified information say that while there are clear policies for how such information should be reviewed and stored, those policies are sometimes pushed aside at the highest levels. Teams of national security officials, secretaries and military aides who share responsibility for keeping top-level executives informed — and the executives themselves — may bend the rules for convenience, expediency or sometimes simple carelessness.
While much of the attention has been on classified information, the Presidential Records Act actually requires that, from the Reagan administration onward, all records must be transferred to the Archives regardless of classification.
It's against federal law to have classified documents at an unauthorized location, but it's only a crime if it was done intentionally.
Speaking Thursday at an unrelated news conference, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that though he could not discuss any specific ongoing investigation, "We have had for quite a number of years any number of mishandling investigations. That is unfortunately a regular part of our counterintelligence division's and counterintelligence program's work."
He said there was a need for people to be conscious of laws and rules governing the handling of classified information. "Those rules," he said, "are there for a reason."
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NARA.
National Archaic Repository of Assholes.
Living up to their name in every way shape or form.
"Sorry, we can't keep track of our things (unless your last name is Trump). Could you please check everything and make sure you don't have anything of ours? If so be good boys and girls and turn yourselves into the DOJ along with our things. We promise to tell Garland you were cooperating. That way he will be sure to go easy on you (except if your last name is Trump)"
Seriously, why haven't they been replaced by a computer with a limited AI yet?
Does the Trump Apology Tour include an entire free pillow or just the stuffing?
Sorry, the Brandon Apologizer Tour stole all the pillows and stuffing.
But you are the first in line to join the NARA Apologizer Tour! Sorry, still no pillows and stuffing.
A perfect example of twisting a proper action by NARA into some wild-assed partisan conspiracy theory.
NARA has a lot of work that it should do to get full control over all classified document copies. And it needs to spearhead a process wherein all departments/agencies of the government authorized to manage classified documents are all following the same process, with oversight, to ensure that every copy is tracked and proactively managed to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
NARA can't even figure out what documents they are missing; much the less who has them. Again, unless the person's last name is Trump.
Asking politicians to go through everything and figure out if it belongs to NARA is asinine. Most politicians will hire sanitation crews like Brandon, Pence, and now it seems Trump to go through everything. Sanitation teams that don't have clearance to view classified documents- and have no clue how to trace chain of custody (they could care less about it- they are paid to protect their client).
Asking NARA to come up with a system to handle classified documents is like asking the fox to guard the hen house. Inmates to run the prison. Insane people to run the sanitarium. They are the morons that operate the current dysfunctional system. What makes anyone think they are qualified to come up with a new system; much the less be in charge of oversight?
This has been discussed ad nauseum recently.
Only the most important classified docs are serialized and tracked.
The rest depend on an honor system.
As a Veteran you yourself have testified here as to the enormous pressure the military brings to bear on a service person precisely because the vast majority of the security of "classified" documents depends on the honor system, the UCMJ and a handful of laws for civilians.
You simply cannot track a piece of paper that someone stamped "Confidential" at some point in time without a rigid system like the military practices.
How the government keeps track of classified documents : NPR
Questions answered about tracking classified documents - ABC News (go.com)
So... You think that abolishing the NARA and having nobody bother to even try to secure our national secrets is good for our country?
Questions answered about tracking classified documents - ABC News (go.com)
As I noted, they need to make some major improvements. IMO.
Partisan nonsense.
It is a good first step to help identify national security liabilities (which is what is really important here). Initiate this while working on a substantially more effective process.
That is nonsense. What agency is more appropriate to own the process for managing documents than NARA?
You can make that cynical remark about any entity. And, by the way, I was not suggesting that NARA would be the agents of oversight. Oversight is typically executed by a third party.
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removed for context
Ex-Air Force intelligence chief pleads guilty to keeping hundreds of classified documents after retiring (msn.com)
August of 2022, the LT Colonel accepted a single felony count of "willfull retention" of classified materials.
The Plea Deal and punishment has not been made public.