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U.S. NEWS Friday 27 January 2023
Past U.S. presidents, VPs asked to recheck for classified docs

By COLLEEN LONG and rick Garland appointed a
ZEKE MILLER special counsel to investi-
Associated Press gate Trump’s handling of
WASHINGTON (AP) — The the documents, and also
National Archives has Biden’s.
asked former U.S. presi- It turns out that officials from
dents and vice presidents all levels of government
to recheck their personal discover they are in posses-
records for any classified sion of classified material
documents following the and turn it over to authori-
news that President Joe ties at least several times
Biden and former Vice a year, according to an-
President Mike Pence had other person familiar with
such documents in their the matter who spoke on
possession, two people fa- the condition of anonymity
miliar with the matter said due to the sensitive nature
Thursday. of classified documents.
The Archives sent a letter Current and former officials
Thursday to representatives involved in the handling of
of former presidents and classified information say
vice presidents extending that while there are clear
back to Ronald Reagan to policies for how such infor-
ensure compliance with the mation should be reviewed
Presidential Records Act, The north face of the Archives of the United States is seen in this general view March 11, 2019, in and stored, those policies
according to the two peo- Washington. Associated Press are sometimes pushed
ple, who spoke on condi- aside at the highest levels.
tion of anonymity because Teams of national secu-
they were not authorized to Quayle, they said. uses in November. Since Handling of classified docu- rity officials, secretaries and
speak about investigations. The letter was first reported then, subsequent searches ments has been a problem military aides who share re-
The act states that any re- by CNN. by the FBI and Biden’s law- off and on for decades, sponsibility for keeping top-
cords created or received Spokespeople for former yers have turned up more from presidents to Cabinet level executives informed
by the president are the presidents Trump, Obama, documents. Former Vice members and staff across — and the executives
property of the U.S. govern- George W. Bush and Clin- President Pence, too, this multiple administrations themselves — may bend
ment and will be managed ton and former vice presi- week, discovered docu- stretching as far back as the rules for convenience,
by the archives at the end dents Pence, Dick Cheney, ments and turned them in Jimmy Carter. But the issue expediency or sometimes
of the administration. Al Gore and Dan Quayle after saying previously he has taken on greater signifi- simple carelessness.
The Archives sent the letter did not immediately re- did not believe he had any. cance since former Presi- While much of the attention
to representatives of former spond to requests for com- The White House did not im- dent Donald Trump willfully has been on classified infor-
Presidents Donald Trump, ment. mediately respond to a re- retained classified mate- mation, the Presidential Re-
Barack Obama, George Biden’s lawyers came quest for comment but the rial at his Florida estate, cords Act actually requires
W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George across classified docu- searches by Biden’s attor- prompting the unprece- that, from the Reagan ad-
H.W. Bush and Ronald Rea- ments from his time as vice neys and the FBI appear to dented FBI seizure of thou- ministration onward, all re-
gan, and former Vice Presi- president in a locked cabi- fulfill the Archives’ request. sands of pages of records cords must be transferred
dents Pence, Biden, Dick net as they were packing The Archives had no com- last year. to the Archives regardless
Cheney, Al Gore and Dan up an office he no longer ment. Attorney General Mer- of classification.q

New U.S. race, ethnicity standards

proposed; first since ‘97

By MIKE SCHNEIDER effort to collect consistent been pushing for combin-
Associated Press race and ethnicity data ing the race and Hispanic
A Middle Eastern and North across federal agencies origin questions, saying the
African category could be when handling censuses, way race is categorized
added to U.S. federal sur- federal surveys and ap- often confuses Hispanic re-
veys and censuses, and plication forms for govern- spondents who are not sure
changes could be made ment benefits. how to answer. Tests by the
to how Hispanics are able Questions about race Census Bureau in the 2010
to self-identify, under pre- and Hispanic ethnicity are census showed that com-
liminary recommenda- asked separately using the bining the questions yield-
tions released Thursday by 1997 standards. They would ed higher response rates. Workers at ACCESS, the Arab Community Center for Economic
the Biden administration in be combined into a single Using the 1997 standards, and Social Services, help with meals for the Arab community in
what would be the first up- question under the initial U.S. residents from Middle Dearborn, Mich., on May 1, 2020.
date to race and ethnicity proposals, which were Eastern and North African Associated Press
standards in a quarter cen- made by a working group countries were encour- acronym. The Census Bu- Among the countries of ori-
tury. The federal govern- of representatives from dif- aged to identify as “white.” reau recommended add- gin that would get a check
ment’s standards haven’t ferent federal agencies Under the new proposal, ing a MENA category to for the MENA category
been changed since 1997, convened by the Office of there would be a separate the 2020 census form, but would be Lebanon, Iran,
two decades after they Management and Budget. category for people often the Trump administration Egypt, Syria, Morocco and
were created as part of an Some advocates have referred to by the “MENA” dropped the idea. Israel, the notice said.q