The National Archives will delay the release of public records from President Joe Biden’s term as vice president until after Election Day following an extension request from his lawyers, according to a press release from legal group America First Legal.
AFL sought the documents to learn more about the president’s son, Hunter Biden. It launched the request in August 2022 via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filing. That law requires any agency that uses public money to make available certain information when asked.
The group targeted the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) with a request for documents from President Biden’s time as vice president under the administration of former President Barack Obama. That filing also sought details on Hunter’s “corrupt” foreign transactions.
When NARA did not comply with the FOIA request by that September, AFL said it filed a lawsuit to compel the release of the information. That lawsuit allegedly revealed evidence that President Biden used a personal email address for official government business while serving as vice president.
It also allegedly showed the Obama administration was concerned with Hunter’s appointment to the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, according to AFL.
Lawyers representing both President Biden and former President Obama asked to delay the release of the documents until after Election Day under the Presidential Records Act, which states “any records created or received by the President as part of his constitutional, statutory, or ceremonial duties are the property of the United States government and will be managed by NARA at the end of the administration,” according to the National Archives.
AFL wrote this decision is “deeply alarming” as both presidents’ lawyers had since June to review the documents, making an extension “not credible.” The move, AFL said, appears as an attempt to stifle an “October surprise” in the leadup to the election.
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