>>19453812
National Archives Won’t Give Up 5,400 Emails Allegedly Sent by Biden Under Pseudonym
By Katabella Roberts
8/29/2023
Updated:
8/29/2023
In its announcement, the Southeastern Legal Foundation said it initially filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request (pdf) to the archives for President Biden's emails in 2021, at which point NARA responded that "because it did not take custody of then-vice president’s records until January 20, 2017, the emails could not be made public until January 20, 2022."
Therefore, the legal group renewed its FOIA in 2022, it said.
Following that renewed request, NARA allegedly told the nonprofit that it had performed a search of its collection of vice presidential records and identified "approximately 5,138 email messages, 25 electronic files and 200 pages of potentially responsive records that must be processed in order to respond to your request."
However, the agency noted that FOIA requests are "subject to the provisions of NARA regulations" under which it is required to "notify the representatives of the former President and the incumbent President and the former Vice President prior to the release of any Vice Presidential records."
Those regulations could add, at a minimum, an extra 60 days until the records could be produced, according to the lawsuit.
However, the Southeastern Legal Foundation claims NARA has yet to hand over a single one of the alleged emails, prompting it to file the latest lawsuit urging the agency to release the documents.
"More than 430 days have passed since Defendant acknowledged receipt of the FOIA request on June 22, 2022. Defendant has failed to meet the statutory requirement to make the records promptly available," the lawsuit states. "Accordingly, SLF files this lawsuit to compel Defendant to comply with FOIA."
Chairman of the Full Committee on Oversight and Accountability Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) speaks during a hearing with an IRS whistleblowers about the criminal investigation of President Joe Biden's son in Congress in Washington on July 19, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)
Chairman of the Full Committee on Oversight and Accountability Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) speaks during a hearing with an IRS whistleblowers about the criminal investigation of President Joe Biden's son in Congress in Washington on July 19, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)
"All too often, public officials abuse their power by using it for their personal or political benefit. When they do, many seek to hide it. The only way to preserve governmental integrity is for NARA to release Biden’s nearly 5,400 emails to SLF and thus the public. The American public deserves to know what is in them,” Kimberly Hermann, Southeastern Legal Foundation general counsel, said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
A spokesperson for NARA declined to comment when contacted by The Epoch Times.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/national-archives-wont-give-up-5400-emails-allegedly-sent-by-president-biden-under-pseudonym-5482349?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=gab