Deputy archivist stresses importance of preserving presidential records after Trump, Biden document investigations

Before classified documents were found at the homes of President Biden and former President Donald Trump, most people only knew of the National Archives because of the movie “National Treasure.” 

Both men held onto records when they left the vice presidency and presidency, respectively, that should have been sent to the National Archives. Keeping documents from the public impedes historians, oversight entities, and the American people from understanding history, Deputy Archivist Jay Bosanko, who runs day-to-day operations at the National Archives, said. 

“When an individual controls the records, they control the story,” Bosanko said. “They control what the American people can know or not know about their presidency.”

Watergate and presidential records

Records used to belong to the presidents who created them until after the Watergate scandal, when burglars tied to then-President Richard Nixon’s campaign committee broke into Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate office building. 

In the aftermath of the 1972 incident, when President Nixon sought to have audio tapes holding evidence of potential crimes destroyed, Congress acted to protect presidential records. The Presidential Records Act was signed into law in 1978. The act also governs the official records of vice presidents.

“Starting with President Reagan, now the records of a presidency belong to the American people and not to the president,” Bosanko said. 

Trump, Biden and presidential records

Trump tested the law in 2021 when he took dozens of boxes of presidential papers, including almost 340 documents bearing classification markings, to his home in Florida. Trump was eventually charged with 40 felonies, including for allegedly refusing to turn over some of the papers.

The case was dismissed this past July, but the Justice Department is appealing. 

Biden was also investigated over more than 80 documents with classification markings that he had, from when he was vice president and a senator. He cooperated with the investigation and was not charged.

Jay Bosanko said that the National Archives are simply custodians of the records all presidents are required to turn over, and that enforcing the law is up to the Justice Department.

Deputy Archivist Bosanko explained what he thinks is lost when presidential records are not transferred at the end of an administration.

“That strikes at the very heart of the historical record, the completeness of it, the ability to understand decisions,” Bosanko said. “And so it’s important for historians, and ultimately the American people to understand all of the pieces that came in and made up that decision making.”

Public access to federal records 

Those pieces of history start to become available to reporters and scholars at the 15 presidential libraries in the National Archives system five years after a presidency ends. 

“When that five-year window hits, almost immediately we have a backlog of thousands of FOIA requests that we can’t possibly respond to within the 10 days under the Freedom of Information Act,” Bosanko said. 

When Archivist Colleen Shogan was sworn in last year, she inherited a flat budget and a mountain of FOIA requests. At the George W. Bush Presidential Library, for example, a FOIA request might come back with a 12-year wait.

Shogan explained that’s because of the extreme interest in those records. 

“I think the way that we are really going to make headway on this in the near future is going to be through technology,” she said. 

The National Archives aims to scan and digitize all 13-and-a-half billion paper records in their collection. Currently, only 2 percent of their holdings are available online. In a recent memo draft obtained by 60 Minutes, senior leaders at the agency wrote they are concerned limited resources have put the National Archives at “serious risk” of “mission failure.”

Shogan says the National Archives can handle the challenge. 

“We’re going to have to reprioritize, we’re gonna have to look at our budget,” she said. “But we will rely upon our institutions, upon Congress, and of course upon the executive branch to support us along the way.”

Norah O’Donnell

Norah O’Donnell is the anchor and managing editor of the “CBS Evening News,” anchor of CBS News Election Specials and a 60 Minutes contributing correspondent. O’Donnell is a multiple Emmy Award-winning journalist with nearly three decades of experience covering the biggest stories in the world and conducting impactful, news-making interviews.