National Archives asks former presidents, VPs to scour records for classified material [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The National Archives has asked past presidents and vice presidents to check their records for classified documents.
• Missives were sent to representatives of presidential administrations going back to Ronald Reagan.
• The agency asked that they turn over all presidential records “regardless of classification status.”

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has sent missives to past presidents and vice presidents requesting them to check their records for classified documents after such material was discovered at the homes of former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, and former Vice President Mike Pence. 

​According to a CNN report on Thursday, letters were sent to representatives of presidential administrations going back to Ronald Reagan.

The NARA cited the Presidential Records Act of 1978 in the letter, stating, “The responsibility to comply with the PRA does not diminish after the end of an administration.”

The letter asked the recipients to “conduct an assessment of any materials held outside of NARA” to ensure that “Presidential or Vice Presidential records subject to the PRA” are not “inadvertently” included in “bodies of materials previously assumed to be personal in nature​.” 

The agency asked that they turn over all presidential records dating back to the Reagan administration “regardless of classification status.”

The representatives of former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and the late George H.W. Bush stated that they have already handed over all their records to NARA.

Former President Jimmy Carter was not among the recipients. He signed the PRA into law in 1978, but it didn’t go into effect until the Reagan administration.

This week, the Associated Press reported that Carter discovered classified documents at his Plains, Georgia, home, and returned the materials to NARA. It was not stated when the discovery was made.

Back in August, the FBI searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and found dozens of classified records.

On Nov. 2, Biden’s lawyers found classified materials at the Penn Biden Center think tank in Washington and turned over the documents to NARA, but the discovery wasn’t publicly reported until earlier in January. After additional searches in December and earlier this month, more documents were discovered at Biden’s home.

On Tuesday, Pence also confirmed that a few classified documents were discovered at his Indiana home. 

Biden’s and Trump’s handling of classified material are set to be investigated by special counsels appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Source: New York Post