The National Archives asked former presidents and vice presidents to check their records for classified materials.
“The responsibility to comply with the PRA does not diminish after the end of an administration,” the letter states. “Therefore, we request that you conduct an assessment of any materials held outside of NARA 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.”
“The Archives sent the letter to representatives for former Presidents 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.” CNN reported.
A letter was not sent to former President Jimmy Carter.
CNN reported:
The National Archives is formally asking former presidents and vice presidents to re-check their personal records for any classified documents or other presidential records in the wake of classified documents discovered in the homes of former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence and President Joe Biden over the last year.
The Archives sent a letter Thursday to representatives of former presidents and vice presidents from the last six presidential administrations covered by the Presidential Records Act (PRA) – from former President Ronald Reagan’s White House to the present.
The letter, which was reviewed by CNN, requests that they check their files to ensure that material thought to be personal does not “inadvertently” contain presidential records that are required by law to be turned over to the Archives.
Representatives for the four former presidents have all so far told CNN they do not have any classified records in their possession. The representatives for former Presidents Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama and the late George H.W. Bush all told CNN that all classified records had been turned over to the National Archives upon leaving office.
The letter sent to former presidents and vice presidents comes after Mike Pence ‘found’ classified documents at his Carmel, Indiana home.
Joe Biden’s personal lawyers discovered classified documents at Biden’s private office and Wilmington, Delaware home.