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Press Statements in Response to Media Queries About Presidential Records
Media Alert · Thursday, April 27, 2023

Washington, DC

In response to recent media reports that generated a large number of queries about presidential records, we issued the following statements to the media:

 

April 27, 2023, statement

The April 24, 2023, letter from Timothy Parlatore, John Rowley, James Trusty, and Lindsey Halligan to House Permanent Selection Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner incorrectly states that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) “declined to provide archival assistance to President Trump’s transition team.” In a February 10, 2023, letter to House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (which is available online), NARA General Counsel Gary M. Stern clarified a response that he had given during his January 31, 2023, interview with the Committee: 

 

I stated at the interview that it was my recollection that NARA had not provided such assistance. Following the interview, I checked with my colleagues, and I was informed that, in fact, NARA did send staff members to the White House in the final weeks of the Trump Administration to assist with the move of the physical records (including artifacts), in coordination with the DOD team that NARA employed to transport the records from the White House complex to the National Archives. It is my understanding that this support was logistical in nature and did not involve providing records management guidance. In addition, NARA staff provided on-site transition support to the National Security Council. (The transfer of the electronic records was done by a different process that did not necessitate NARA staff to be onsite.) 

 

Mr. Stern’s letter also described how this assistance was similar to the assistance that NARA had provided to the White House during the three previous Presidential transitions. 

The packing of boxes and transfer of records from the White House to NARA at the end of each Administration is always managed and controlled by White House and NSC officials. While NARA routinely provides assistance, the NARA staff work under the direction of the White House. 

 

April 12, 2023, statement

Recent press stories and social media posts concerning NARA’s actions in relation to the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into materials held by former President Donald J. Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property allege that NARA has been untruthful about our activities. This is not accurate. These allegations confuse NARA’s statutory role in providing access to records under the Presidential Records Act (PRA) with the DOJ investigation and the FBI’s subsequent search of Mar-a-Lago.

NARA routinely makes Presidential records in our legal custody available to all three branches of the federal government via the “special access” provision of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 2205(2)).  This provision authorizes Executive branch agencies, such as the Department of Justice, to make requests through the sitting President.   

NARA’s core mission is to make records available for access. By providing records under the PRA, NARA does not consider itself to be involved in the work of, or investigations by, the requestors. This stands true whether the requestor is the President, an Executive branch agency, Congress, or a Court (including via grand jury subpoenas). 

As NARA publicly disclosed more than seven months ago, NARA provided the FBI with access to the 15 boxes of materials from Mar-a-Lago in accordance with the PRA. As we have stated previously, NARA had no prior knowledge of, or involvement in, the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago, which occurred months after NARA first provided the FBI with access to the 15 boxes.  

The PRA special access request process for the Mar-a-Lago boxes was described in the May 10, 2022, letter from Acting Archivist of the United States Debra Steidel Wall to Evan Corcoran, one of former President Trump’s PRA representatives, which NARA posted on its website in August 2022. This letter states that the Department of Justice asked “the President to request that NARA provide the FBI with access to the boxes at issue so that the FBI and others in the Intelligence Community could examine them. On April 11, 2022, the White House Counsel’s Office — affirming a request from the Department of Justice supported by an FBI letterhead memorandum — formally transmitted a request that NARA provide the FBI access to the 15 boxes for its review within seven days, with the possibility that the FBI might request copies of specific documents following its review of the boxes.” The Acting Archivist’s letter addressed the privilege issues raised by the representative of President Trump and concluded that: “NARA will provide the FBI access to the records in question, as requested by the incumbent President, beginning as early as Thursday, May 12, 2022.”

Records we have released in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests about Presidential and Vice-Presidential records are available here: 

 

March 31, 2023, statement

Today, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is making its sixth release of documents processed in response to nearly 50 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking NARA records related to the 15 boxes of materials we received from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in January 2022. 

Today’s release consists of 542 pages of records. Due to pending litigation, we are not able to offer additional comment on today’s release.

 

February 28, 2023, statement

Today, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is making its fifth release of documents processed in response to nearly 50 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking NARA records related to the 15 boxes of materials we received from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in January 2022. 

Today’s release consists of 25 pages of records. NARA will continue to review additional responsive information in the coming months for possible release. Due to pending litigation, we are not able to offer additional comment on today’s release. 

 

February 10, 2023, statement

Today, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is making its first Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) release of documents related to the transfer of Obama-era Presidential records from President Biden to NARA, beginning in November 2022. 

NARA has received more than 25 FOIA requests related to NARA’s receipt of these records. We are processing the requests on a rolling basis and posting any non-exempt, responsive records at https://www.archives.gov/foia/biden-vp-records-covered-by-pra. Today’s release consists of 74 pages of communications between NARA and President Biden’s personal attorneys.

 

January 31, 2023, statement

Today, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is making its fourth release of documents processed in response to nearly 50 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking NARA records related to the 15 boxes of materials we received from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in January 2022. 

Today’s release consists of 62 pages of records. NARA will continue to review additional responsive information in the coming months for possible release. Due to pending litigation, we are not able to offer additional comment on today’s release.

December 20, 2022, statement


Today, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is making its third release of documents processed in response to nearly 50 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking NARA records related to the 15 boxes of materials we received from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in January 2022. 

Today’s release consists of 573 pages of internal NARA emails related to the 15 boxes (266 pages in full and 307 with parts redacted). We are withholding 1,832 pages in full, under FOIA exemptions that apply to: (1) NARA’s internal deliberations and privileged communications with Trump’s Presidential Records Act representatives, federal agencies, and Congress (exemption (b)(5)); (2) information that, if released, would result in a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy (exemption (b)(6)); and (3) information concerning active law enforcement proceedings and efforts (exemptions (b)(7)(A), (b)(7)(C) and (b)(7)(E)). 

NARA will continue to review additional responsive information in the coming months for possible release. Due to pending litigation, we are not able to offer additional comment on today’s release. 

November 9, 2022, statement

Today, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is making its second release of documents processed in response to numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for NARA records related to the 15 boxes we received in January 2022 from former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, Florida estate. 

News reports surrounding the boxes and presence of classified information resulted in dozens of requests for these records from the press, members of Congress and the public. Today’s release consists of communications between NARA officials related to the 15 boxes. We expect to process more internal communications related to the 15 boxes for release in December. 

We are releasing 23 pages in full and 52 pages in part. We are withholding 855 pages in full. Most of the requested documents are being withheld under FOIA exemptions that apply (1) to NARA’s internal deliberations and privileged communications with PRA representatives, with federal agencies, and with Congress (FOIA exemption (b)(5)); (2) to information that involves personal privacy interests (FOIA exemption (b)(6)); and (3) to information concerning active law enforcement proceedings and efforts (FOIA exemptions (b)(7)(A), (b)(7)(C) and (b)(7)(E)). 

NARA will continue to review additional responsive information in the coming months for possible release. 

We are not able to comment more on today’s release because of pending litigation.

This statement is also posted online here: Press Statements in Response to Media Queries About Presidential Records.

October 11, 2022, statement

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), in accordance with the Presidential Records Act, assumed physical and legal custody of the Presidential records from the administrations of Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan, when those Presidents left office. NARA securely moved these records to temporary facilities that NARA leased from the General Services Administration (GSA), near the locations of the future Presidential Libraries that former Presidents built for NARA. All such temporary facilities met strict archival and security standards, and have been managed and staffed exclusively by NARA employees. Reports that indicate or imply that those Presidential records were in the possession of the former Presidents or their representatives, after they left office, or that the records were housed in substandard conditions, are false and misleading.

October 3, 2022, statement

Today, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is releasing documents processed in response to numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for NARA records related to the 15 boxes that we received in January 2022 from former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, Florida estate. 

News reports surrounding the boxes and presence of classified information resulted in dozens of requests for these records from the press, members of Congress and the public. Today’s release is for two categories of requested records dated through March 2022:  “Category 1,” communications between NARA officials and Presidential Records Act (PRA) representatives of former President Trump, and “Category 2,” communications from NARA to external entities other than Trump representatives (including the Department of Justice, the White House, Congress, and other third parties).  

We are releasing 11 pages in Category 1, and withholding 298 pages in full. We are releasing 54 pages in Category 2, and withholding 1,249 pages in full. Most of the requested documents are being withheld under FOIA exemptions that apply (1) to privileged communications with PRA representatives and with federal agencies (FOIA exemption (b)(5)); (2) to protect personal privacy (FOIA exemption (b)(6)); and (3) to information concerning active law enforcement proceedings and efforts (FOIA exemptions (b)(7)(A), (b)(7)(C) and (b)(7)(E)). 

NARA will continue to review additional responsive information in the coming months for possible release. 

We are not able to comment more on today’s release because of pending litigation.

This statement is also posted online here, and in NARA’s FOIA Reading Room page on Records Released In Response to Presidential Records Act (PRA) questions under the Trump Administration. 

September 23, 2022, statement 

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) administers the Barack Obama Presidential Library, located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The library holds records from the Obama presidential administration and is leased, controlled, managed, and used exclusively by NARA. The Obama Foundation, an independent entity, has never had control over the records in Hoffman Estates. All records in that facility are stored and managed by NARA in accordance with archival storage standards, and all classified records were stored in an appropriately secured compartment within the facility. NARA moved these records at the end of the Obama administration to the Hoffman Estates facility under the assumption that former President Obama and his Foundation would be building and transferring to NARA a traditional, physical Presidential Library in the Chicago area. When former President Obama decided that he would not build a physical, NARA-operated Presidential Library, NARA transported the classified records back to secure locations in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. The Obama Foundation provided NARA with funds to help convert the Hoffman Estates facility and to cover some of the expenses of moving the classified records, but the foundation has never had possession or control over the records.

September 8, 2022, statement

Some news outlets and individuals on social media are mistakenly reporting that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) confirmed that a large number of boxes of Presidential records are missing from the Barack Obama administration. This is false. NARA has never issued any such statement and is not aware of any missing boxes of Presidential records from the Obama administration.

August 12, 2022, statement

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) assumed exclusive legal and physical custody of Obama Presidential records when President Barack Obama left office in 2017, in accordance with the Presidential Records Act (PRA). NARA moved approximately 30 million pages of unclassified records to a NARA facility in the Chicago area where they are maintained exclusively by NARA. Additionally, NARA maintains the classified Obama Presidential records in a NARA facility in the Washington, DC, area. As required by the PRA, former President Obama has no control over where and how NARA stores the Presidential records of his Administration.

February 8, 2022, statement

Throughout the course of the last year, NARA obtained the cooperation of Trump representatives to locate Presidential records that had not been transferred to the National Archives at the end of the Trump administration. When a representative informed NARA in December 2021 that they had located some records, NARA arranged for them to be securely transported to Washington. NARA officials did not visit or "raid" the Mar-a-Lago property.  

February 7, 2022, statement

In mid-January 2022, NARA arranged for the transport from the Trump Mar-a-Lago property in Florida to the National Archives of 15 boxes that contained Presidential records, following discussions with President Trump’s representatives in 2021. Former President Trump’s representatives have informed NARA that they are continuing to search for additional Presidential records that belong to the National Archives. 

As required by the Presidential Records Act (PRA), these records should have been transferred to NARA from the White House at the end of the Trump Administration in January 2021.

“The Presidential Records Act mandates that all Presidential records must be properly preserved by each Administration so that a complete set of Presidential records is transferred to the National Archives at the end of the Administration,” said Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero. “NARA pursues the return of records whenever we learn that records have been improperly removed or have not been appropriately transferred to official accounts.”   

Ferriero further stressed the importance of adherence to the PRA by all Presidents. 

“The Presidential Records Act is critical to our democracy, in which the government is held accountable by the people,” Ferriero said. “Whether through the creation of adequate and proper documentation, sound records management practices, the preservation of records, or the timely transfer of them to the National Archives at the end of an Administration, there should be no question as to need for both diligence and vigilance. Records matter.”

January 31, 2022, statement

Some of the Trump presidential records received by the National Archives and Records Administration included paper records that had been torn up by former President Trump. As has been reported in the press since 2018, White House records management officials during the Trump Administration recovered and taped together some of the torn-up records. These were turned over to the National Archives at the end of the Trump Administration, along with a number of torn-up records that had not been reconstructed by the White House. The Presidential Records Act requires that all records created by presidents be turned over to the National Archives at the end of their administrations.

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This page was last reviewed on April 27, 2023.
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