DCNF, Judicial Watch Ask Delaware Court To Reopen Case Seeking Biden’s Senate Records Following Special Counsel Report
Katelynn Richardson on March 22, 2024
The Daily Caller News Foundation and Judicial Watch asked a Delaware court this week to reopen their case seeking the release of President Joe Biden’s Senate records held at the University of Delaware.
Special counsel Robert Hur’s February report on his investigation into Biden’s retention of classified documents contained findings that contradicted the university’s claims that no tax dollars were used in processing the records sought by the DCNF and Judicial Watch. The Delaware Supreme Court previously sided with the university in July, shielding the documents from release.
“The stunning revelations from the Hur report extend beyond the president’s memory lapses and mental state,” DCNF Editor-in-Chief Michael Bastasch said. “The court needs to reopen this case to determine whether the University of Delaware lied.”
Judicial Watch initially sued the university on behalf of itself and the DCNF in July 2020 after it denied their request, claiming the records were not related to the expenditure of public funds.
Documents requested by the DCNF included agreements relating to the storage of 1,850 boxes and 415 gigabytes of records from Biden’s 1973 to 2009 Senate career, as well as communications between university staff and Biden’s staff, log sheets of individuals who have visited the collection and the actual collection records.
“In sum, the Report shows that President Biden directed his former staffers’ work in reviewing and cataloguing the Senate Papers, received the benefit thereof—and the University paid for it,” the DCNF and Judicial Watch motion filed with the Superior Court of the State of Delaware states. “Such payments constitute consideration paid on President Biden’s behalf in connection with the donation of Senatorial Papers to the University—contrary to the representations in the Supplemented Affidavit.”
Biden gave his records to the university on the condition that they would not be publicly released until “they have been properly processed and archived,” according to the university’s website. They have been housed at the university since 2012.
“The search for Senate documents took place at Mr. Biden’s direction, required the participation of many, and was paid for by the University,” the motion continues. “Even the University General Counsel was involved in coordinating with Mr. Biden’s Chief of Staff.”
Hur’s report noted that Biden “asked two of his former longtime Senate staffers to review his boxes in courtesy storage” in Spring 2011 in preparation to donate the papers. The staffers “were paid by the University of Delaware to perform the pre-gift review,” according to the report.
“The Hur report provides disturbing evidence the University of Delaware misled the courts in order to hide Biden’s Senate papers,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said.
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