Examine individual changes

'{{Short description|American law}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox U.S. legislation | shorttitle = Presidential Records Act | othershorttitles = Presidential Records Act, 1978 | longtitle = An Act to amend title 44 to insure the preservation of and public access to the official records of the President, and for other purposes. | colloquialacronym = PRA | nickname = Presidential Records Act of 1978 | enacted by = 95th | announced by = <!--like "enacted by" but for proposed/unpassed legislation--> | effective date = January 20, 1981 | public law url = | cite public law = {{uspl|95|591}} | cite statutes at large = {{usstat|92|2523}} | acts amended = | acts repealed = | title amended = [[Title 44 of the United States Code|44 U.S.C.: Public Printing and Documents]] | sections created = {{Usc-title-chap|44|22}} § 2201 et seq. | sections amended = | leghisturl = | introducedin = House | introducedbill = {{USBill|95|H.R.|13500}} | introducedby = [[L. Richardson Preyer]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]]-[[North Carolina|NC]]) | introduceddate = July 17, 1978 | committees = [[United States House Committee on House Administration|House Administration]], [[United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability|House Government Operations]] | passedbody1 = House | passeddate1 = October 10, 1978 | passedvote1 = Passed/Agreed | passedbody2 = Senate | passedas2 = <!-- used if the second body changes the name of the legislation --> | passeddate2 = October 13, 1978 | passedvote2 = Passed/Agreed | conferencedate = | passedbody3 = | passeddate3 = | passedvote3 = | agreedbody3 = House | agreeddate3 = October 14, 1978 | agreedvote3 = Passed/Agreed | agreedbody4 = <!-- used if agreedbody3 further amends legislation --> | agreeddate4 = <!-- used if agreedbody3 further amends legislation --> | agreedvote4 = <!-- used if agreedbody3 further amends legislation --> | passedbody4 = | passeddate4 = | passedvote4 = | signedpresident = [[Jimmy Carter]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/243935 |title=Jimmy Carter, Statement on Signing Into Law H.R. 13500, the Presidential Records Act of 1978 |date=November 6, 1978 |website=The American Presidency Project ~ John Woolley and Gerhard Peters |publisher=University of California - Santa Barbara}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/4732133.1978.002.umich.edu/page/1964 |title=Presidential Records Act of 1978 ~ Statement on Signing H.R. 13500 Into Law - November 6, 1978 |last=Carter |first=Jimmy E. |date=November 6, 1978 |website=Internet Archive |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Archives and Records Service |pages=1965-1966}}</ref> | signeddate = November 4, 1978 | unsignedpresident = <!-- used when passed without presidential signing --> | unsigneddate = <!-- used when passed without presidential signing --> | vetoedpresident = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> | vetoeddate = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> | overriddenbody1 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> | overriddendate1 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> | overriddenvote1 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> | overriddenbody2 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> | overriddendate2 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> | overriddenvote2 = <!-- used when passed by overriding presidential veto --> | amendments = | SCOTUS cases = }} The '''Presidential Records Act''' ('''PRA''') of 1978, {{usc|44|2201|2209}},<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-08-15 |title=Presidential Records (44 U.S.C. Chapter 22) |url=https://www.archives.gov/about/laws/presidential-records.html |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=National Archives |language=en}}</ref> is an [[Act of Congress|Act of the United States Congress]] governing the official records of [[President of the United States|Presidents]] and [[Vice President of the United States|Vice Presidents]] created or received after January 20, 1981, and mandating the preservation of all presidential records. Enacted November 4, 1978,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://history.house.gov/HouseRecord/Detail/15032450288|title=Chairman's Notebook on Presidential Records Act {{!}} US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives|website=history.house.gov|language=en|access-date=September 19, 2018}}</ref> the PRA changed the legal ownership of the President's official records from private to public, and established a new statutory structure under which Presidents must manage their records. The PRA was amended in 2014, to include the prohibition of sending electronic records through non-official accounts unless an official account is copied on the transmission, or a copy is forwarded to an official account shortly after creation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/1233|title=H.R.1233 - 113th Congress (2013-2014): Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments of 2014|last=Cummings|first=Elijah E.|date=November 26, 2014|website=Congress.gov|access-date=February 26, 2019}}</ref> == History == The Presidential Records Act was enacted in 1978 after President [[Richard Nixon]] sought to destroy records relating to his presidential tenure upon his [[Resignation of Richard Nixon|resignation]] in 1974. The law superseded the policy in effect during Nixon’s tenure that a president’s records were considered private property, making clear that presidential records are owned by the public. The PRA requires the President to ensure preservation of records documenting the performance of his official duties (44 U.S.C. § 2203(a)), provides for the [[National Archives and Records Administration]] (NARA) to take custody and control of the records (44 U.S.C. § 2203(g)), and sets forth a schedule of staged public access to such records (44 U.S.C. § 2204). Records covered by the PRA encompass documentary materials relating to the political activities of the President or members of the President’s staff if they concern or have an effect upon the carrying out of “constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the President” (44 U.S.C. § 2201(2)).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Congressional Oversight of Executive Branch Records Preservation |url=https://www.co-equal.org/guide-to-congressional-oversight/congressional-oversight-of-executive-branch-records-preservation |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=www.co-equal.org}}</ref> === Trump invocations === Following his [[Federal prosecution of Donald Trump|federal indictmen]]<nowiki/>t, former President [[Donald Trump]] cited the PRA as providing himself legal cover.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-13 |title=What does the Presidential Records Act say, and how does it apply to Trump? - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-presidential-records-act-indictment-arraignment/ |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> ==Provisions== Specifically, the Presidential Records Act: * Defines and states public ownership of the records. * Places the responsibility for the custody and management of incumbent presidential records with the President. * Allows the incumbent president to dispose of records that no longer have administrative, historical, informational, or evidentiary value, once he or she has obtained the views of the [[Archivist of the United States]] on the proposed disposal in writing. <ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/laws/1978-act.html|title=Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978|date=August 15, 2016|website=National Archives|access-date=March 5, 2022}}</ref> * Establishes a process for restriction and public access to these records. Specifically, the PRA allows for public access to presidential records through the [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] (FOIA) beginning five years after the end of the Administration, but allows the President to invoke as many as six specific restrictions to public access for up to twelve years. The PRA also establishes procedures for Congress, courts, and subsequent administrations to obtain special access to records that remain closed to the public, following a 30‑day notice period to the former and current Presidents. * Requires that Vice-Presidential records are to be treated in the same way as presidential records. * Establishes that Presidential records automatically transfer into the legal custody of the Archivist as soon as the President leaves office. <ref name="auto"/> * Establishes procedures for Congress, courts, and subsequent Administrations to obtain “special access” to records from NARA that remain closed to the public, following a privilege review period by the former and incumbent Presidents; the procedures governing such special access requests continue to be governed by the relevant provisions of E.O. 13489 * Establishes in law that any incumbent Presidential records (whether textual or electronic) held on courtesy storage by the Archivist remain in the exclusive legal custody of the President and that any request or order for access to such records must be made to the President, not NARA. * Establishes preservation requirements for official business conducted using non-official electronic messaging accounts: any individual creating Presidential records must not use non-official electronic messaging accounts unless that individual copies an official account as the message is created or forwards a complete copy of the record to an official messaging account. (A similar provision in the [[Federal Records Act]] applies to federal agencies.) * Requires that the President and his staff take all practical steps to file personal records separately from Presidential records. * Prevents an individual who has been convicted of a crime related to the review, retention, removal, or destruction of records from being given access to any original records. == Related Executive Orders == * [[Executive Order 12667]] – issued by [[Ronald Reagan|President Reagan]] in January 1989, this [[Executive order (United States)|executive order]] established the procedures for [[National Archives and Records Administration|NARA]] and former and incumbent Presidents to implement the PRA ({{USC|44|2201|2207}}). * [[Executive Order 13233]] – this executive order, issued by President [[George W. Bush]] on November 1, 2001, superseded Reagan's previous executive order. The Bush executive order also included the documents of former Vice Presidents.<ref>{{cite news|last=Office of the Federal Register|author-link=Office of the Federal Register|url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2001/11/05/01-27917/further-implementation-of-the-presidential-records-act|title=Further Implementation of the Presidential Records Act|work=[[Federal Register]]|publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]]|location=[[Washington, D.C.]]|date=November 1, 2001|access-date=November 23, 2017|archiveurl=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2001-11-05/pdf/01-27917.pdf|archive-date=November 5, 2001}}</ref> * [[s:Executive Order 13489|Executive Order 13489]] – issued by President [[Barack Obama]] on January 21, 2009, restored the implementation of the PRA of 1978 as practiced under President Reagan's [[s:Executive Order 12667|Executive Order 12667]] and revoked President Bush's [[s:Executive Order 13233|Executive Order 13233]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Office of the Press Secretary|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=76782|title=Executive Order on Presidential Records|work=[[University of California, Santa Barbara|UCSB]]|publisher=[[University of California]]|location=[[Santa Barbara, California]]|date=January 21, 2009|access-date=November 23, 2017|author1-link = White House Office of the Press Secretary}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Office of the Federal Register|author-link=Office of the Federal Register|url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2009/01/26/E9-1712/presidential-records|title=Presidential Records|work=[[Federal Register]]|publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]]|location=[[Washington, D.C.]]|date=January 21, 2009|access-date=November 23, 2017|archiveurl=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-01-24/pdf/2017-01799.pdf|archive-date=January 26, 2009}}</ref> * [[Executive Order 13526]] - issued by [[Barack Obama|Barack Hussein Obama II]] on December 29, 2009, the [[Executive order (United States)|executive order]] authorized an uniformity policy as related to classifying, declassifying, and safeguarding articles pertaining to national security information.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/287521 |title=Barack Obama, Executive Order 13526 - Classified National Security Information |date=December 29, 2009 |website=The American Presidency Project ~ John Woolley and Gerhard Peters |publisher=University of California - Santa Barbara}}</ref> ==Proposed amendments== * [[Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007]], passed by the [[United States House of Representatives|House]] on March 14, 2007. * [[Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments of 2014]], enacted into law on November 26, 2014 * [[Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement Act]] of 2017, named after President Trump's [[Covfefe|"covfefe" tweet]] ==See also== {| style="width: 100%; border: none; text-align: left;" |- |[[Bush White House e-mail controversy]] || [[Joe Biden classified documents incident]] |- |[[Espionage Act of 1917]] || [[Mike Pence classified documents incident]] |- |[[FBI investigation into Donald Trump's handling of presidential documents]] || [[Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act]] |- | [[Federal Records Act|Federal Records Act of 1950]] || [[Records Act|Records Act of 1789]] |- | [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act of 1966]] || [[Records management]] |} ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==External links== {{wikisource|Presidential Records Act of 1978}} * [https://www.archives.gov/about/laws/presidential-records.html Presidential Records] at the U.S. National Archives {{Authority control}} {{portal bar|Law|Politics|United States}} [[Category:1978 in American law]] [[Category:Freedom of information legislation in the United States]] [[Category:Freedom of Information Act (United States)]] [[Category:United States federal government administration legislation]] [[Category:Presidency of the United States|Records Act]]'