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The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) send a letter to former White House officials, requesting them to ensure compliance with the Presidential Records Act (PRA). The letter comes after a series of revelations about the discovery of illegally-kept classified documents at the homes of President Biden, former President Trump, and former Vice President Mike Pence over the past year.
The decision to ask former Presidents and Vice Presidents from the last six administrations to recheck their private possessions for official documents was first reported by the CNN. The CNN was also the first to obtain the secret letter, which reminded the former officials of: “Several instances reported in the media where records containing classified information and subject to the Presidential Records Act (PRA) have been identified outside of the physical custody” of the NARA. The letter urged them to: “Conduct an assessment of any materials held outside of NARA.” It warns that: “The responsibility to comply with the PRA does not diminish after the end of an administration.”
Apart from Mr. Trump, the representatives of four former Presidents told the CNN that they were confident all the classified documents in their possession had been turned over to the National Archives at the time of leaving office. After the letter became public, a spokesperson for President Obama told Reuters that his office had already been given a “clean bill of health” by the NARA with regards to the request. President Jimmy Carter, who is 98 and held the Oval Office before Reagan, was not contacted, as the PRA was enacted after he had already left office.
The request came after a series of public scandals in which classified documents were discovered at the homes of former President Trump, President Biden, and most recently, former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home, and handed over to the NARA. Out of these cases, only former President Trump resisted an examination and his Florida mansion was later raided by the FBI. Over 100 ‘classified’ documents were forcefully confiscated, and Mr. Trump now faces a federal criminal investigation into his misconduct that endangered the country’s national security.