Comer & Jordan Press NARA on Possible Collusion with Democrats
WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Committee on the Judiciary Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) today are pressing Acting Archivist of the United States Debra Steidel Wall about the possibility of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) being pressured by Oversight Committee Democrats to pursue former President Trump. Ranking Members Comer and Jordan are calling for documents and communications to determine the extent of Congressional Democrats’ influence over and coordination with NARA.
“Committee on Oversight and Reform Republicans are continuing to investigate the National Archives and Records Administration’s (NARA) role in the FBI raid of former President Donald J. Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago. Committee Republicans have learned that NARA’s actions initiated the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) criminal investigation against the former president the same day Committee Democrats inquired about whether a referral to DOJ had been made. The possibility of NARA being pressured by Committee Democrats to pursue the former president is troubling, and Committee Republicans are concerned about NARA’s continued refusal to provide information about its role in the raid on the former president’s home,” wrote Ranking Members Comer and Jordan.
On October 4, 2022, Ranking Member Comer wrote to Acting Archivist Wall raising concerns about Oversight Committee Democrats’ influence and coordination with NARA and called for documents and communications to determine if Democrats have been influencing the agency. Starting in December 2020, Oversight Committee Democrats pressured NARA to pursue former President Trump while he was in office despite NARA finding no wrongdoing, and NARA has held at least one secret briefing with Democrats without inviting Republicans. On October 7, 2022, Acting Archivist Steidel Wall responded and failed to provide the information requested.
“According to correspondence between Committee Democrats and NARA, on February 9, 2022, Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney wrote to NARA raising concerns about 15 boxes of presidential records stored at the former president’s home at Mar-a-Lago and asking whether the Archivist had been in contact with the Attorney General on this matter. The same day—February 9, 2022— a ‘referral’ from NARA was ‘sent to the United States Department of Justice’ that initiated an investigation into the former president. 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,” continued Ranking Members Comer and Jordan.
The letter to Acting Archivist Steidel Wall can be found here.