The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) was created 89 years ago to serve as an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch. It is charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. Much has been stated in recent years about the trouble the agency faced in maintaining historical records under the Trump administration, as the president was known to rip, flush, and otherwise discard records.
In addition, former President Donald Trump delayed providing material to the National Archives in accordance with the Presidential Records Act.
However, this week, it is President Joe Biden who is now in the spotlight after NARA acknowledged that a Freedom of Information Act request was made in June 2022 by the Atlanta-based legal advocacy group the Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF). NARA is reportedly in possession of nearly 5,400 emails, electronic records, and other documents that could show Biden used pseudonyms while emailing his son Hunter during his time as vice president.
Joe Biden Emails – What Do We Know?
The request sought emails pertaining to the accounts of Robin Ware, Robert L. Peters and JRB Ware — pseudonyms the 80-year-old president was known to use in the White House, The New York Post reported.
SLF has claimed the emails may show that then-Vice President Joe Biden may have forwarded government information, and more importantly may have discussed business with his son and others.
“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, SLF general counsel, said in a statement, while the group has accused NARA of “dragging its feet” since the June 2022 FOIA request was made.
No specific emails have been provided despite NARA acknowledging their existence.
Are the Joe Biden Emails the Smoking Gun the GOP is Seeking?
Earlier this month, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) requested that NARA provide unredacted documents and communications from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president as part of the panel’s probe into the president’s son, The Hill reported.
“Joe Biden has stated there was ‘an absolute wall’ between his family’s foreign business schemes and his duties as Vice President, but evidence reveals that access was wide open for his family’s influence peddling,” Comer said in a statement.
“We already have evidence of then-Vice President Biden speaking, dining, and having coffee with his son’s foreign business associates,” Comer added. “We also know that Hunter Biden and his associates were informed of then-Vice President Biden’s official government duties in countries where they had a financial interest. The National Archives must provide these unredacted records to further our investigation into the Biden family’s corruption.”
The House committee is now seeking “all unredacted documents and communications in which then-Vice President Joe Biden used a pseudonym,” with the pseudonyms listed as “Robert Peters, Robin Ware, and JRB Ware.”
Perhaps the emails will be a true smoking gun – but perhaps they’ll just be like Al Capone’s vault. Time will tell.
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
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