Recent unsealed documents reveal the close collaboration between the Biden White House and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA ) in instigating the Special Counsel’s investigation into former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents. This coordination indicates a clear political agenda and raises concerns about the legality of the Justice Department’s prosecution of the presumptive GOP nominee.
America First Legal released a thread of documents on Friday, believed to be obtained through the group’s Freedom of Information Act requests.
The involvement of political figures from the Obama era in decision-making was highlighted in an FBI document from February 18, 2022, raising concerns about the investigation’s impartiality.
Following the discovery of classified material, NARA General Counsel Gary Stern consulted with Jonathan Su, the current Deputy White House Counsel. Su directed them to contact the Justice Department’s Associate Deputy Attorney General Emily Loeb and Associate Deputy Attorney General David Newman on January 21, 2021. AFL called Loeb and Newman “politicals who both served in the Obama White House Counsel’s Office.”
On January 24, 2021, Newman advised involving NARA’s Inspector General (IG) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) IG, although an IG’s authority is limited to internal affairs.
Emails and letters exchanged between NARA officials and White House staff taint the efforts to obtain and use President Trump’s records as a political ploy. For instance, an email from NARA General Counsel Stern to the White House’s Su on September 30, 2021, indicated the White House was “ready to set up a call to discuss the Trump boxes.”