Two leading Republicans wrote a letter Friday to the National Archives demanding communications and documents addressing the possibility Democrats pressured the institution into investigating former President Donald Trump.
House Oversight and Reform Committee Ranking Member James Comer (R-KY) and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-OH) wrote the missive, obtained by Breitbart News, to Acting Archivist of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Debra Steidel Wall over the possibility that House Oversight Committee Democrats have pressured NARA into investigating Trump.
Comer and Jordan noted the stunning coincidence that, on February 9, Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) wrote to NARA about concerns over 15 boxes of presidential records stored at Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago and if the agency had been in contact with NARA about this.
The same day, NARA sent a “referral” to the Department of Justice that initiated the investigation into Trump.
The two Republicans wrote, “The fact that NARA transmitted to DOJ a referral that launched a criminal investigation of the former president the same day the Democrat Chairwoman of the Committee inquired whether the agency had been in contact with DOJ raises serious concerns about whether NARA made the referral after pressure from Committee Democrats.”
Patel said the documents marked classified at Mar-a-Lago and seized by the National Archives in February were already declassified by Trump. https://t.co/EbWXxrCKOD
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 5, 2022
Republicans noted that, despite NARA claiming it “take[s] [its] role as a non-political agency very seriously,” the agency failed to provide documents relating to the agency’s communications with congressional Democrats.
Comer had written on October 4 to Wall about Oversight Committee Democrats’ influence and potential coordination with NARA.
In December 2020, Oversight Committee Democrats pressured NARA to pursue Trump while he was in office despite NARA finding no issues. NARA had reportedly held at least one secret briefing with Democrats without committee Republicans. On October 7, NARA responded without providing the information that Comer requested.
File/This is an aerial view of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, Aug. 10, 2022, in Palm Beach, Fla. The National Archives and Records Administration recovered 100 documents bearing classified markings, totalling more than 700 pages, from a initial batch of 15 boxes retrieved from Mar-a-Lago earlier this year. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
Comer and committee Republicans in August have questioned the accuracy of NARA’s statement on its involvement in the raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.
The Republicans challenged the National Archives’ narrative, stating:
On August 22, 2022, Just the News published a letter demonstrating robust negotiations between NARA and former President Trump’s attorney, Evan Corcoran. Also on August 22, 2022, the New York Times reported: “…the material in the boxes prompted archives officials to refer the matter to the Justice Department, which within months had convened a grand jury investigation.”
“It is puzzling that you and your staff would blatantly deny the existence of such responsive documents or communications to Congress. It is implausible that there would be no internal communications by NARA employees regarding the subject matter of the letter to Mr. Corcoran, as your letter to us would indicate,” committee Republicans wrote to the National Archives.
The Republicans wrote in a previous letter to NARA that the “seeming weaponization of the federal government against President Biden’s political rivals cannot go unchecked.”
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
