The National Archives asked permission from President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama if the agency can release Joe Biden’s email alias emails and records, according to the House Oversight Committee.
The committee requested the Archives on August 17 to hand over all documents and communications in which then-Vice President Joe Biden used pseudonyms such as “Robert Peters,” “Robin Ware,” and “JRB Ware.” The Archive’s deadline to reply to the committee’s request was August 31.
Joe Biden used the three email aliases to share government information and discuss business with Hunter Biden and associates, according to the Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF). The Archives reportedly possess about 5,400 emails and records related to the aliases.
Joe Biden’s official government email alias in 2016 raised concern among Republicans, who question why “Robert L. Peters” received an email that cc’d Hunter Biden about Ukraine. https://t.co/38OZvroCeC
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 26, 2023
“Today is the deadline for the National Archives to produce the records related to then-VP Joe Biden’s pseudonyms,” the Oversight Committee said Thursday evening. “NARA has informed us that the emails and records have been sent to representatives for former President Obama and Joe Biden for their approval to be released.”
“Given President Biden’s promise to be the most transparent administration in history, we are calling on him to follow through with this and provide these records to the American people,” the committee added.
NARA typically notifies current and former presidents of both requests for and proposed disclosure of records of former presidents, according to the agency:
The purpose of the notification is to give Counsel, on behalf of the incumbent President, the right to assert applicable constitutionally based privileges to prohibit access to or release of Presidential or Vice Presidential records. Although these records were 4 created by a prior President, the incumbent President may believe that it is appropriate to assert Executive Privilege to bar the release of these records.
Lawmakers began scrutinizing Joe Biden’s alias email addresses in 2021. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), authors of a 2020 Senate report on the Biden family, issued letters to the White House and NARA requesting the contents of email addresses on three separate occasions. But the Archives stonewalled requests.
Six Obama administration officials used alias email addresses, including then-Vice President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama. https://t.co/h5zWTnQEVX
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 19, 2023
“I’ve been researching Joe Biden’s use of private emails since 2021,” Johnson told Breitbart News. “Three letters to the Biden White House have gone unanswered, and NARA provided the usual non-response response.”
Sen. Johnson also said Obama should demand the release of emails and records to clear any appearance of wrongdoing by his administration. “Obama should allow NARA to release the 5,100 email messages and 200 pages of records,” he said.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
