Leahy Presses For Release Of Roberts’s Documents
From Reagan Library That Are Being Withheld
. . . Letter To
Reagan Library Seeks Redacted Versions
Of 478 Pages Not Disclosed
WASHINGTON (Tuesday, Aug. 16) -- Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the
Ranking Democratic Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a
letter Tuesday seeking access to more than 470 pages of documents
relating to the nomination of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts
that were withheld yesterday from other documents provided to the
panel. In the letter Leahy noted that the documents being withheld
would otherwise be released in redacted form under the Freedom of
Information Act. One of Congress’s leading FOIA advocates, Leahy
urged officials at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to release
the documents under those conditions.
Below is
Leahy’s letter.
A PDF version is also available.
Mr. R. Duke Blackwood
Executive Director
Ronald Reagan Library
40 Presidential Drive
Simi Valley, California
93065
Dear Mr. Blackwood:
I thank you and your staff for the
effort you are making to review documents from the John Roberts
files in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. I know that it
involved the hard work and long hours of many people, and please
also convey my thanks to them.
I write with regard to the papers that
were not released yesterday, and specifically about 478 pages that
were withheld from disclosure. I understand that in attempting to
accommodate a time-sensitive request, you conducted an expedited
review of the documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA),
5 U.S.C. 552. I further understand that, as a result of the short
processing time, you withheld certain documents based on established
FOIA exemptions, including, among others, the personal privacy
exemption. I am told that among the 478 pages are records that
would typically be released under FOIA once information that is
subject to an exemption has been redacted, or after you determined
that segregable portions of the documents were appropriate for
release.
I would note that I do not agree with
the reliance on FOIA exemptions in response to an official request
from Senators charged with the responsibility for reviewing a
nomination, but even within the confines of that reliance, I believe
that the better practice is to release as much information as
possible.
With this letter, I request that you
conduct a supplementary review of the documents that were withheld,
redacting or segregating portions of the documents as necessary, and
release the remaining records as soon as possible.
I also request that you continue to
investigate thoroughly the missing “Affirmative Action” file from
the August 15 release of papers, and to clarify the basis upon which
you believe you have reconstructed that file. I ask to know whether
you have relied only upon the notes taken by White House employees
who had previously reviewed the file, or whether there is another,
independent inventory or source of information that could better
assure the Senate that what was originally in the file is the same
as your reconstruction.
I know you are working hard to review
many other documents in the Roberts files, but your prompt attention
to this request would be appreciated. As you know, hearings on the
Roberts nomination before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary are
scheduled to begin on
September 6, 2005, and it is important that the Committee have
accurate and complete information about the nominee before that
time.
Sincerely,
PATRICK LEAHY
Ranking Democratic Member
