Internal Memos Suggest National Archives Is Lying and Concealing Its Role in Pushing the Prosecution of Trump

Woke, weaponized federal agencies lying about using their government powers to destroy political opponents? That doesn't sound like the woke, weaponized federal agencies I know.

For months, the National Archives and Records Administration has insisted it had nothing to do with the federal criminal investigation into memos containing classified markings that were found at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate since it referred the matter to the FBI in February 2022.

"When NARA identified items marked as classified national security information within the 15 boxes, NARA referred this issue to the DOJ," acting Archivist Debra Wall wrote Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), now the House Intelligence Committee chairman, on Aug. 16. "Since that time, the DOJ has been exclusively responsible for all aspects of this investigation, and NARA has not been involved in the DOJ investigation or any searches that it has conducted."

The claim is important because it has been used by NARA as a reason why it doesn't have to answer any further questions from curious lawmakers. "Accordingly, NARA is unable to provide a briefing or any documents in response to your letter, and we refer you to the DOJ," Wall wrote last summer.

But internal messages, emails and letters -- some released in recent days under the Freedom of Information Act -- tell a different story that raises questions about the Archives' official timeline in the Trump dispute.

For instance, new internal messages between Archives staff show that a full week after Wall's letter to Congress, a senior NARA official was still seeking data about the FBI probe.

Detail of additional documents omitted. See the link for more.

Such documents, released by NARA to the public, clearly show Archives activity well after the criminal referral.

But despite the activity, both the FBI and NARA have continued to maintain the case changed hands and the Archives dropped out as soon as the National Archives Office of Inspector General referred the matter to the FBI for criminal investigation on Feb. 9, 2022.

...

In its application for the search warrant used to raid Mar-a-Lago, the FBI likewise cited the February 2022 referral as the trigger for probable cause for its investigation.

"The investigation began as a result of a referral the United States National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) sent to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) on February 9, 2022," an FBI agent wrote in the affidavit.

A spokesperson for the National Archives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

Of course they didn't. It's so quaint to believe that our hostile government answers to the American people.

posted by Ace at 02:10 PM

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