Top Republican senators on Monday asked the National Archives to turn over all records tied to the Biden administration‘s criminal investigations into President Donald Trump, arguing the investigations were politically motivated efforts to derail the president’s 2024 campaign.
In a letter to the National Archives and Records Administration, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) requested all communications among former President Joe Biden’s White House, the FBI, and the Department of Justice related to the two major Trump investigations leading up to the last presidential election.
Since FBI Director Kash Patel’s confirmation hearing in late January, the senators have released several emails and documents gained through “legally protected whistleblower disclosures relating to the genesis of the election interference case brought against President Trump by then-Special Counsel Jack Smith,” according to the letter to sent to NARA lawyers dated April 30.
The senators claim the documents show a politically driven effort that began with a group of anti-Trump FBI officials who worked closely with DOJ prosecutors on the so-called Arctic Frost investigation, which eventually evolved into Smith’s elector case against Trump.
Grassley and Johnson pointed to recent emails they released on April 7 that allegedly reveal the Biden White House’s early involvement, including the White House allegedly helping to facilitate FBI access to Trump’s and former Vice President Mike Pence’s phones before Trump was even named a subject of the investigation.
“We are seeking additional records from your offices on this matter pursuant to our ongoing investigation,” the senators wrote.
Their letter also expands the inquiry to the Biden administration’s role in the classified documents criminal investigation, arguing that many of the same DOJ and FBI personnel were involved in both cases.
The senators demanded the Archives provide unredacted records from top Biden White House staff, including former chiefs of staff Ron Klain and Jeff Zients, former White House Counsel Dana Remus, and former senior DOJ and FBI leaders, including former Attorney General Merrick Garland, former FBI Director Christopher Wray, and Smith.
They set a May 14 deadline for NARA to deliver the requested materials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is presently the acting archivist, in addition to his role as Trump’s acting national security adviser.
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The Washington Examiner contacted the National Archives in response to the senators’ inquiry.
Trump has long railed against the investigations as part of a sweeping “lawfare” campaign — a term he uses to describe what he claims is the Democratic Party’s misuse of the legal system to block his reelection effort.