Authorities Professional Blasts DOJ for Memo Blocking Biden From Viewing Trump Presidential Information

On January 15, the Department of Justice’s Legal Department released a neglected memo preventing the incoming Biden administration from viewing President Donald Trump’s records stored on White House computers. The OLC is the same office that penned the infamous statement that a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime.

During his presidency, Trump repeatedly released and released “hundreds” of records or more from the Obama administration in support of his lies that his predecessor had “wiretapped” – “spied on” him. Some of these releases “even endangered national security”. Trump also secretly and dangerously shared national security secrets, including a top Russian spy who was visiting the Oval Office.

Unsurprisingly, Trump wants to block the possibility of Biden viewing his administration’s records.

In September 2019, a whistleblower indictment leading to Trump’s first impeachment trial transferred recordings of Trump’s “perfect” call to the Ukrainian president to a classified White House server to alleged White House aides.

The OLC memo states that all Trump administrative records are legally under the control of the United States archivist.

The government’s ethics expert, Walter Shaub, is now breaking this opinion and calling it “crazy”.

That’s crazy. In the dwindling days of the Trump administration, the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel decided again to show that it says something for a president. OLC is the “Mikey Like It” of government offices. That episode said Biden could not see the President’s records. https://t.co/uxcqn8TnKY

– Walter Shaub (@waltshaub), February 4, 2021

National Security Counselors, a group of national security attorneys, calls the OLC memo “Balls to the Wall Bonkers”.

That opinion is balls to the wall crazy. In any case, I would like to be in the room when the archivist says to the president, “Oh rats, Mr. President, our policy is that OLC opinions are binding, there is nothing to be done, sorry.”

– National Security Advisor (@NatlSecCnslrs) February 4, 2021

Shortly before President Joe Biden’s inauguration, Darren Samuelsohn, chief executive of the Business Insider DC office, reported on the January 15 OLC memo.

“The Justice Department has tacitly assured President Donald Trump’s attorneys that the President’s records left on hard drives in the White House will not become the property of the Biden administration,” he wrote on Twitter.