From: Kari
Date: 11/1/01
Time: 11:33:58 PM
AP. 1 November 2001. Bush Extends Restrictions on Release of Presidential Records.
WASHINGTON -- President Bush issued an order Thursday night that lets past presidents, beginning with Ronald Reagan, keep some of their White House papers private even after the 12-year wait now required by law.
Advocates for government declassification expressed disbelief.
Some said the executive order would usher in a new era of government secrecy.
Some 68,000 pages of Reagan's White House records, including the vice presidential papers from President Bush's father, were supposed to have been opened in January, 12 years after Reagan left office, as provided by law.
But the White House delayed the release three times to review constitutional and legal questions.
White House counsel Alberto Gonzales defended Bush's executive order Thursday, but did not say when or if the Reagan papers would be opened to the public.
Vanderbilt University historian Hugh Graham said the draft was a "real monster" and complained, "They would reverse an act of Congress with an executive order."
Bruce Craig, director of the National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History, said it was "blatantly unlawful top to bottom." He predicted a quick legal challenge.
The issue likely will come up at a hearing Tuesday by a House Government Reform Committee panel, initially scheduled before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Reagan's records were to have been the first released under the 1978 Presidential Records Act, which followed Watergate and former President Nixon's attempts to hold on to his papers and tape recordings. It made presidential records the property of government, not ex-presidents.
Under the act, presidential records are to be released after 12 years, except for those withheld for national security or certain personal reasons specified by law. A former president can still claim executive privilege to prevent the release of certain documents. A sitting president has the final say.
Under Bush's executive order, a sitting president could not override a claim of executive privilege made by a former president.
Some historians have suspected the Bush White House is worried about what the Reagan papers might reveal about officials now working for President Bush who also worked for Reagan. Among them are Secretary of State Colin Powell, Budget Director Mitch Daniels Jr. and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card.
Some historians suggest that the White House is using heightened public interest in national security as a screen for clamping down on the release of presidential papers.
Craig said the Bush White House might be worried that the war on terrorism may generate documents it would rather not see exposed down the road.