Archives to Biden lawyer on election eve: We need to 'change our approach' on classified docs

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) officials negotiating with President Joe Biden's legal team over his retention of classified materials appear to have abruptly changed course on the eve of the 2022 midterms and informed the president's attorney that the agency would need to seize the materials he had discovered at the Penn-Biden Center in Washington, D.C.

"Pat, I believe that Gary will be reaching out to you and/or Bob. Based on some discussions this evening, we need to change our approach," reads a Nov. 7, 2022, email from NARA's William (Jay) Bosanko and Biden attorney Patrick Moore. "I believe that tomorrow we will need to take temporary physical custody of all of the textual (or other) record material (likely not artifacts). More as this develops. Maybe we can arrange a call for the morning? Jay."

The email exchange between Moore and Bosanko, shows the pair initially coordinating a visit by the archives to the Penn-Biden Center slated for Nov. 8, 2022, to "assess the remaining boxes and take custody of whichever ones we deem appropriate for further review." The later email, however, indicates an abrupt shift in NARA's approach, from planning to review the materials at the center and take only the necessary materials, to simply seizing the lot.

Whilst clearing out Biden's former office in the Penn-Biden Center, Moore discovered a litany of records marked classified, which reportedly included intelligence on Ukraine, Iran, and the UK. The belated revelations of that discovery resulted in further sweeps of Biden-occupied premises and the discovery of additional materials.

In March, NARA confirmed to Republicans that it had recovered even more documents from Moore's Boston office.

After previously naming special counsel Jack Smith to investigate former President Donald Trump's alleged mishandling of classified materials, Attorney General Merrick Garland faced intense pressure to name a special counsel for Biden, to which he ultimately succumbed.

Garland tapped Robert Hur to lead that investigation, which has thus far failed to result in any charges, revelations, or meaningful developments known to the public.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.