WASHINGTON \u2014 The National Archives and Records Administration on Thursday requested that former presidents and\u00a0vice presidents\u00a0“conduct an assessment” to determine whether they have any classified materials in their possession.
\nIn a letter to designated records representatives, the National Archives referred to “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 National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).\u201d
\n\u201cThe responsibility to comply with the PRA does not diminish after the end of an administration,\u201d according to the letter,\u00a0first reported\u00a0by CNN and later obtained by NBC News.
\nUnder the\u00a0Presidential Records Act, all presidents\u2019 and vice presidents\u2019 records \u2014 including any classified documents \u2014 must be turned over to archives by the ends of their terms.
\n“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 letter said.
\nA spokesperson for the archives declined to comment on the letter, which was sent after classified documents were found at the homes of former Vice Presidents Joe Biden and Mike Pence, as well as an office Biden previously used.
\nBiden and Pence said they were unaware they had the documents until attorneys found them after former President Donald Trump was found to have left the White House with over\u00a0300 documents\u2002bearing classification markings. More than 100 of those documents were found in an FBI search of Trump’s Florida estate in August after Trump’s lawyers said all such documents, which had been subpoenaed by federal authorities, had been handed over to the Justice Department.
\nThe offices of former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama told NBC News this week that they were in compliance with the records law.
\nBush’s office responded to the archives letter by saying Thursday: “Thank you for your note.\u00a0We understand its purpose and remain confident that no such materials are in our possession.”
\nThe other living former president, Jimmy Carter,\u00a0signed the PRA into law\u00a0in 1978, but it did not apply to records from his administration.
\nFormer Vice President Dan Quayle\u2019s office said Thursday: \u201cWe have not received an inquiry from the National Archives.\u00a0If we do, we will fully cooperate.\u201d<\/p>\n