{"id":1608505,"date":"2022-08-16T10:17:28","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T14:17:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1608505"},"modified":"2022-08-16T10:24:04","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T14:24:04","slug":"james-bovard-theres-no-sainthood-for-obama-national-archives-in-trump-fbi-raid-uproar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/james-bovard-theres-no-sainthood-for-obama-national-archives-in-trump-fbi-raid-uproar\/","title":{"rendered":"James Bovard: There\u2019s No Sainthood for Obama, National Archives in Trump FBI Raid Uproar"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjames-bovard-theres-no-sainthood-for-obama-national-archives-in-trump-fbi-raid-uproar%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1608505&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Accusations are flying fast and furious regarding last week\u2019s FBI raid at former President Donald Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago home. In my Wednesday piece for <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/08\/09\/fbi-trump-raid-exposes-washingtons-secrecy-shams\/\">The Post,<\/a> I noted that 30 million pages of Obama administration records had been trucked to Chicago. The Obama Foundation, working with the National Archives, promised to digitize and put them online. Almost six years after the records arrived at a Chicago-area warehouse, that hasn\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n<p>Trump revved up the controversy Friday when he asserted that President Barack Obama \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2022\/aug\/12\/donald-trump\/why-trump-wrong-suggest-obama-personally-kept-33-m\/\">kept 33 million<\/a> pages of documents, much of them classified. How many of them pertained to nuclear? Word is, lots!\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Trump has not revealed any source for his allegations that many of the papers were classified and that they had \u201clots\u201d of \u201cnuclear\u201d material. The Obama Foundation and the National Archives have denied there are any classified documents in those records.<\/p>\n<p>The media have largely sainted the National Archives in this ruckus. The agency issued a statement Friday: \u201cAs required by the [Presidential Records Act], former President Obama has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2022\/08\/12\/trump-obama-national-archives\/\">no control<\/a> over where and how [the archives] stores the Presidential records of his Administration.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-850267660.jpg\"><\/a><figcaption>Reportedly, 30 million pages of Obama administration records were trucked to Chicago six years ago. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-955095816.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"726\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-955095816.jpg\" alt=\"The National Archives have garnered much attention following the Trump FBI raid.\" class=\"wp-image-23457725\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-955095816.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-955095816.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-955095816.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-955095816.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>The National Archives was supposed to work with the Obama Foundation on digitizing the archives. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But the National Archives blocks access to official records at the behest of <em>every <\/em>former president and his designated officials.<\/p>\n<p>Almost all the media coverage of this controversy has ignored or downplayed the dismal failure of the Presidential Records Act <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/opinion\/2022\/02\/20\/bush-obama-trump-all-use-presidential-record-act-hide-history\/6803334001\/\">to reveal presidents\u2019 records<\/a>. A <a href=\"https:\/\/webcache.googleusercontent.com\/sehttps:\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2022\/08\/11\/fox-trump-maralago-search-obama\/\">Washington Post analysis<\/a> of the dispute on the 30 million pages conceded, \u201cAs with many issues of government transparency and document-sharing, it\u2019s true that this is not great! You often have to wait years for requested documents, and this appears to be no exception.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But journalists should be outraged by this perpetual stonewalling. Barack and Michelle Obama collected a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/culture\/2017\/3\/2\/14779892\/barack-michelle-obama-65-million-book-deal-penguin-random-house\">$65 million<\/a> advance for their memoirs, but Americans are still effectively prohibited from seeing his official records.<\/p>\n<p>The Presidential Records Act requires people seeking information to file a Freedom of Information Act request. As Politico reported in March, \u201cAt many presidential libraries, the queues for processing FOIAs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/west-wing-playbook\/2022\/03\/31\/the-obama-foia-timebomb-00022074\">stretch for years<\/a>,\u201d and requests \u201cinvolving classified information can take more than a decade.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1242395653.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"681\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1242395653.jpg\" alt=\"Twenty-three boxes were taken by the FBI.\" class=\"wp-image-23457726\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1242395653.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1242395653.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1242395653.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1242395653.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Trump has demanded the return of the documents taken during the raid. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Obama boasted he had \u201cthe <a href=\"http:\/\/thehill.com\/blogs\/blog-briefing-room\/news\/283335-obama-this-is-the-most-transparent-administration-in-history\">most transparent administration<\/a> in history.\u201d In reality, the Obama administration was as devious as the Nixon administration when it came to government secrecy.<\/p>\n<p>In 2011, Obama\u2019s Justice Department <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pogo.org\/analysis\/2011\/11\/did-your-foia-request-really-not-exist-or-is-that-just-what-doj-told-you\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">formally proposed<\/a>\u00a0to permit federal agencies to falsely claim that FOIA-requested documents did not exist.\u00a0The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2011\/10\/feds-embrace-foia-lying\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">American Civil Liberties Union complained<\/a>\u00a0that the plan perverted \u201ca law designed to provide public access to government information to be twisted to permit federal law enforcement agencies to\u00a0actively lie to the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1413333546.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1413333546.jpg\" alt=\"The Obama Foundation and National Archive have denied Obama&#039;s possession of any classified documents.\" class=\"wp-image-23457727\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1413333546.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1413333546.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1413333546.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1413333546.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Trump has claimed without proof that Obama has thousands of classified documents. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Obama\u2019s lawyers claimed a new veto power that turned FOIA into a travesty. White House counsel Gregory Craig <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hsdl.org\/?abstract&#038;did=789831\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">quietly notified<\/a> all federal agencies in 2009\u00a0that \u201call documents and records that implicate the White House in any way are said to have \u2018White House equities\u2019\u00a0and must receive an extra layer of review, not by agency FOIA experts, but by the White House itself,\u201d a congressional report noted. Politico\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/blogs\/under-the-radar\/2016\/05\/watchdog-suit-obama-white-house-slowing-foia-process-223016\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">observed\u00a0in 2016<\/a> that in some cases, White House FOIA \u201creferrals have led to years of delay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Obama Foundation and the National Archives talk about digitizing those 30 million pages as if it were an almost unfathomable labor of Hercules. It took me less than five minutes searching online to find <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B012UFQW8G\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=nypost-20&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;creativeASIN=B012UFQW8G&#038;linkId=236e9ad874e89a884d5ac07c9964f3fe&#038;asc_refurl=https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/08\/14\/theres-no-sainthood-for-obama-national-archives-in-trump-fbi-raid-uproar\/&#038;asc_source=web\">a Kodak scanner<\/a> that can handle 150,000 pages a day. Buy 10 of those scanners, and the 30 million pages could easily be digitized within a month. The scanners cost $20,000 each, but the Obama Foundation has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obama.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/B200_The-Barack-Obama-Foundation_Amended-Form-990_PD-Copy_No-Schedule-B_TR_TY20.pdf\">$560 million<\/a> in assets and the top three employees receive more than $500,000 a year. It could easily find the money for the scanners if disclosure were the goal.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>The Obama Foundation estimates that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obama.org\/updates\/obama-presidential-archives-fact-sheet\/\">95%<\/a> of Obama administration records were \u201cborn digital.\u201d They could be easily placed online \u2014 if disclosure were the goal. Will the National Archives insist on \u201creviewing\u201d each page for spelling errors before it goes live on the internet or what?<\/p>\n<p>Obama\u2019s machinations don\u2019t make Trump trustworthy. The Justice Department has not yet revealed precisely what documents it seized at Mar-a-Lago and what legal charges may be filed. There are plenty of questions about the motivation of the FBI raid, the possible role of an FBI confidential informant and the <a href=\"https:\/\/jonathanturley.org\/2022\/08\/14\/justice-department-accused-of-taking-attorney-client-material-at-mar-a-lago\/\">alleged seizure<\/a> of materials protected by attorney-client privilege<\/p>\n<p>At this point, National Archives bureaucrats seem to have adapted the early motto of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/1955\/11\/our-mission-statement-william-f-buckley-jr\/\">National Review<\/a>, standing \u201cathwart history, yelling Stop.\u201d But as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wisely warned in 2012, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/fcpamericas.com\/english\/brazil\/why-secretary-clintons-fcpa-remarks-are-notable\/\">Lack of transparency<\/a> eats away like a cancer at the trust people should have in their government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>James Bovard is the author of 10 books and a member of the USA Today Board of Contributors.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Accusations are flying fast and furious regarding last week\u2019s FBI raid at former President Donald Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago home. In my Wednesday piece for The Post, I noted that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1608627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1608505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1608505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1608505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1608505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1608627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1608505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1608505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1608505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}