The National Archives is calling on former presidents and vice presidents to make sure they're not in possession of any classified information, CNN reports.
The request comes in the wake of classified documents found at various locations belonging to former President Donald Trump, current President Joe Biden, and most recently former Vice President Mike Pence.
The Archives sent a letter to representatives of former presidents and vice presidents from the last six administrations covered by the Presidential Records Act (PRA). The letter asks that they make sure they are not “inadvertently” in possession of anything that needs to be turned over to the Archives.
“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.”
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The letter adds that “while much of the attention of these instances has focused on the classified information, the PRA requires that all Presidential records of every Administration from Reagan onward must be transferred to NARA, regardless of classification status.”
As CNN points out, 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.
"Representatives for the four former presidents have all so far told CNN they do not have any classified records in their possession," CNN's report stated. "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."
Read the full report over at CNN.
