After a setback before the Delaware Supreme Court, the University of Delaware is continuing its dogged effort to prevent the public from seeing the senatorial papers of President Joe Biden. The continued litigation, at public cost, has been criticized as an effort to shield President Biden from potentially embarrassing material from being accessed by the media or public interest groups. For a research institution, it is a curious role to prevent access to documents but clearly a role supported by President Biden and his family. What is particularly troubling is the reason being claimed by the university.
We have previously discussed these documents and their potential significance to inquiries ranging from sexual harassment complaints to foreign dealings. The university insists that, so long as it does not use public funds for the maintenance of the Biden documents, it is immune from the Freedom of Information Act. By using private funds, it is arguing that it can keep the material locked away from public review.
A Superior Court decision held that the papers were not subject to FOIA based on dismissive and clearly inadequate filings by the university. The Delaware Supreme Court has now sent the matter back to the lower court for additional review. It has held that the university must still show that it is immune from public disclosure laws and must potentially conduct searches of its records requested by Judicial Watch and the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The Supreme Court specifically found the earlier representations of Jennifer M. Becnel-Guzzo, Esq., University FOIA Coordinator to be insufficient to carry the burden under the law. It also noted that it was not made under oath. Accordingly, Delaware Superior Court Judge Mary Johnston ordered the university to submit evidence that archives Biden gave the school in 2012 are not subject to a public records request and consequently public access.
Delaware’s Freedom of Information Act states that “’Public body,’ ‘public record’ and ‘meeting’ shall not include activities of the University of Delaware and Delaware State University, except that the Board of Trustees of both universities shall be ‘public bodies,’ university documents relating to the expenditure of public funds shall be “public records.”
A review of Becnel-Guzzo statement shows why the Supreme Court was concerned about the lower court just accepting the vague statement on its face. It included such representations as:
In recent years, I have responded to numerous FOIA requests having to do with the University’s relationship to Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Thus, on several occasions I have inquired of University personnel, including the University’s budget office and the University’s library, whether State funds have been spent on a variety of matters or undertakings related to Mr. Biden. In no case have I found that State funds were spent by the University on any such matter or undertaking…
Finally, I inquired whether state funds have been spent on the University’s email system over which email communications between University personnel and any representative of Mr. Biden might have been exchanged. They were not.
That seems fairly remarkable. Not a single archivist or staffer supported by state funds has ever worked on these papers? That makes the University of Delaware sound like little more than a secure location to lock away documents.
Likewise, the university email system is not supported by state funds? It is hard to believe that no emails were sent to the Biden family or staff on the matter, but it is not clear whether the university is claiming that its email system is entirely independent of any staffer or resource supported by state funds.
The Supreme Court ruling stated:
“Unless it is clear on the face of the request that the demanded records are not subject to FOIA, the public body must search for responsive records. A description of the search and the outcome of the search must be reflected through statements made under oath, such as statements in an affidavit, in order for the public body to satisfy its burden of proof…On remand, the University bears the burden to create a record from which the Superior Court can determine whether the University performed an adequate search for responsive documents.”
President Biden has pushed against efforts for the review of his papers from his time as a U.S. senator, including transparently narrow searches of material that specifically excluded what he packed off to the University of Delaware. The question is why. There is also a question of whether it is appropriate for the University of Delaware to be used for such a purpose. It is not clear when such documents would be made available for public review under these conditions.
The University has this posting on the archived records:
President Biden donated his Senatorial papers to the University of Delaware pursuant to an agreement that prohibits the University from providing public access to those papers until they have been properly processed and archived. The University is bound by, and will comply with, the agreement. Until the archival process is complete and the collection is opened to the public, access is only available with President Biden’s express consent.
President Biden and his designees have access, under supervision of Special Collections, to the materials during the process. No Biden designee has visited the collection since November, 2019. No documents have been added or removed by any Biden designees during any visits.
The University states that “More than 1,850 boxes of archival records from the President’s Senate career arrived at the Library on June 6, 2012.” It has been ten years. It would seem that a decade would be sufficient to “properly process[] and archive[]” these boxes of documents. The impression is that the university is being used — and is actively maintaining its function — as a lock box to block researchers, public interest groups, and the public at large from gaining access to the material.
SIX OF ONE AND HALF A DOZEN OF THE OTHER?
SEALED OR NOT RELEASED?
Has Obama, son of a foreign citizen, and a non-natural born citizen, released his records?
_______________________________________________________________________
“I keep hearing that President Barack Obama’s records have been sealed and that’s why there are so many secrets about him. Is this true?”
…
“As FactCheck.org points out, the word “sealed” usually means a judge has ruled that records normally open to the public cannot be released without court permission. You usually hear about sealed documents when they pertain to juvenile arrest records, some divorce proceedings or adoption records. In this case, some of the items on the list are open for anyone to see. The other documents supposedly sealed are records that Obama has not released – but neither have other presidential candidates in the course of their campaigns. FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan fact-finding project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, researched the list:
“COLLEGE RECORDS”
“These aren’t sealed; Obama hasn’t released them, and schools aren’t allowed to release any student records to reporters or the public. Although George W. Bush’s grades at Yale were leaked to New Yorker magazine, according to various news accounts, the president himself did not give permission to release them. Other candidates for office, such as Rick Perry, have had their college transcripts leaked by someone – in this case to the Huffington Post – but Perry did not release them.”
“THESIS PAPER”
“Obama did write a paper on nuclear disarmament during his senior year, FactCheck.org states, but it wasn’t a thesis that a master’s or Ph.D candidate would have to defend.
“During the 2008 campaign, Columbia told reporters that it did not have a copy of the paper, Obama said he didn’t either and Obama’s former professor Michael Baron said he probably threw the paper out in an earlier move.”
– jacksonville.com / The Florida Times-Union https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2012/09/08/fact-check-obama-documents-might-not-have-been-released-they-arent/15855148007/
Why did Trump demand that every school he attended seal his records, and threaten them if there was ever a leak? We all know why.
We have asked the same about Barry Soetero’s records.
George, president Obama was born in Hawaii. He’s a natural born citizen.
Sure he is.
“…IN ORDER TO BE OF THE COUNTRY, IT IS NECESSARY THAT A PERSON BE BORN OF A FATHER WHO IS A CITIZEN…”
– Law of Nations, Vattel, 1758
Thank you so much for the implied question.
Barak Obama will NEVER be eligible to be U.S. president.
Barak Obama’s father was a foreign citizen at the time of his birth.
– A mere “citizen” could only have been President at the time of the adoption of the Constitution – not after.
– The U.S. Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5, requires the President to be a “natural born citizen,” which, by definition in the Law of Nations, requires “parents who are citizens” at the time of birth of the candidate and that he be “…born of a father who is a citizen;…”
– Ben Franklin thanked Charles Dumas for copies of the Law of Nations which “…has been continually in the hands of the members of our Congress, now sitting,…”
– “The importance of The Law of Nations, therefore, resides both in its systematic derivation of international law from natural law and in its compelling synthesis of the modern discourse of natural jurisprudence with the even newer language of political economy. The features help to explain the continuing appeal of this text well into the nineteenth century among politicians, international lawyers and political theorists of every complexion.” – Law of Nations Editors Bela Kapossy and Richard Whatmore.
– The Jay/Washington letter of July, 1787, raised the presidential requirement from citizen to “natural born citizen” to place a “strong check” against foreign allegiances by the commander-in-chief.
– Every American President before Obama had two parents who were American citizens.
– The Constitution is not a dictionary and does not define words or phrases, such as “natural born citizen,” as a dictionary, while the Law of Nations, 1758, does.
– The Law of Nations is referenced in Article 1, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution: “To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;…”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Law of Nations, Vattel, 1758
Book 1, Ch. 19
§ 212. Citizens and natives.
“The citizens are the members of the civil society; bound to this society by certain duties, and subject to its authority, they equally participate in its advantages. The natives, or natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens. As the society cannot exist and perpetuate itself otherwise than by the children of the citizens, those children naturally follow the condition of their fathers, and succeed to all their rights. The society is supposed to desire this, in consequence of what it owes to its own preservation; and it is presumed, as matter of course, that each citizen, on entering into society, reserves to his children the right of becoming members of it. The country of the fathers is therefore that of the children; and these become true citizens merely by their tacit consent. We shall soon see whether, on their coming to the years of discretion, they may renounce their right, and what they owe to the society in which they were born. I say, that, in order to be of the country, it is necessary that a person be born of a father who is a citizen; for, if he is born there of a foreigner, it will be only the place of his birth, and not his country.”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ben Franklin letter December 9, 1775, thanking Charles Dumas for 3 copies of the Law of Nations:
“…I am much obliged by the kind present you have made us of your edition of Vattel. It came to us in good season, when the circumstances of a rising state make it necessary frequently to consult the law of nations. Accordingly that copy, which I kept, (after depositing one in our own public library here, and sending the other to the College of Massachusetts Bay, as you directed,) has been continually in the hands of the members of our Congress, now sitting, who are much pleased with your notes and preface, and have entertained a high and just esteem for their author…”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
To George Washington from John Jay, 25 July 1787
From John Jay
New York 25 July 1787
Dear Sir
I was this morning honored with your Excellency’s Favor of the 22d
Inst: & immediately delivered the Letter it enclosed to Commodore
Jones, who being detained by Business, did not go in the french Packet,
which sailed Yesterday.
Permit me to hint, whether it would not be wise & seasonable to
provide a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the
administration of our national Government, and to declare expressly that the Command in chief
of the american army shall not be given to, nor devolved on, any but a natural born Citizen.
Mrs Jay is obliged by your attention, and assures You of her perfect
Esteem & Regard—with similar Sentiments the most cordial and sincere
I remain Dear Sir Your faithful Friend & Servt
John Jay
““…IN ORDER TO BE OF THE COUNTRY, IT IS NECESSARY THAT A PERSON BE BORN OF A FATHER WHO IS A CITIZEN…”
George, recognizing that you have some good points, its hard to separate them from the problem ones.
Was George Washington’s father an American citizen? How about Adams, Jefferson, etc.?
FATHERS AND DEADLINES WERE WAIVED IN ARTICLE 2
“…AT THE TIME OF THE ADOPTION OF THIS CONSTITUTION…”
That is a fair question which was addressed in the constitutional qualification in Article 2, Section 1:
No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution,…
________________________________________________________________________________________________
PARENTS (PLURAL)
“…born in the country, of parents who are citizens.”
Vattel’s Law of Nations stated:
“The natives, or natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens.”
____________________________________________________________________________
THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING
Every American President before Obama had two parents who were American citizens.
George I think I replied to you elsewhere. Though I might not like it, Obama was a natural born American.
Perhaps there are additional laptops stored there?
Once aagsin Jonathan Turley’s reach exceeds his grasp. At the astoundingly high pace of “properly archiving” 50 boxes per year, i.e., 2 boxes per week, the work is 54% complete.
Jeez…
2 boxes per week would be 104 boxes per year. Jeez…
Right. Thank you for the correction. But don’t forget 2 weeks of vacation each and every year.
So indeed only about half done.
Meh, the documents could be more interesting than the Jan6 hearings.
The Hunter Biden laptop already is more interesting than the Jan6 hearings.
In the summer of 2008, while Joe was still Senator, his son Beau was Delaware’s AG.
Larry Sinclair was making damaging headlines at the National Press Club in D.C., talking about his personal sex and drugs experiences with Obama.
Suddenly Beau Biden had Larry Sinclair arrested in D.C. and hauled off to Delaware.(without explaining the charges to Sinclair) This knocked Larry, and his credibility, off of the front page.
Two weeks later, Obama chose Joe to be his running mate.
Impossible to ignore the inference that the Biden documents are full of material the president’s critics and detractors would love to get their hands on. The university’s role as protector. guardian and obfuscator of Biden’s dubious legacy don’t enhance the university’s own reputation. Why would they sacrifice it for the most divisive and incompetent president in living memory?
Jonathan: Delaware courts will be the place to watch, but not for the reason you describe. It’s because Elon Musk will be spending a lot of time there trying to get out of iron-clad contract he signed to buy Twitter. Most experts think Musk is on the hook for that $1 billion he promised to pay should he have a change of heart. You must be sorely disappointed Musk has now backed out on the deal because you mistakenly thought Musk could bring “free speech” back to the social media giant. Now it appears you will have to take that off your “bucket list”. Donald Trump is also disappointed and has had a lot to say since Musk got cold feet. In a F-word laced speech in Alaska Trump said: “Elon is not going to buy Twitter. Where did you hear that before? From me. He’s another bullshit artist”. Now coming from the greatest “bullshit artist” in modern history that is quite a tribute to Musk.
If you watched Trump’s Alaska performance it is clear he has become unglued. –as Bill Barr described him “detached from reality”. Trump has a lot of serious threats on his plate. Trump and Don Jr. have resigned from the board of Truth Social. Very convenient timing. This comes just when the SEC has served them with subpoenas re the operation of their struggling social media platform. Forbes describes TS as “a campaign fundraising op disguised as a social media platform”. This is in addition to subpoenas from the grand jury in NY. And, of course, there is the grand jury probe of his fraudulent attempt to subvert the Georgia election. Trump has a lot on his plate to worry about. He is really worried about Pat Cipollone will tell the J. 6 Committee. But Trump keeps claiming the J.6 investigation is a “scam” and politically motivated “witch hunt”. If it is why is he so worried and trying to intimidate witnesses to keep them “loyal”? Trump has severely criticized Kevin McCarthy for refusing to put any GOP rep on the Committee to defend him. It wasn’t Pelosi that stacked the deck it was McCarthy. But you keep pushing the erroneous idea that the Committee is illegitimate because it’s not “balanced”. You should take this up with McCarthy–not Pelosi. She was simply following House rules. Tomorrow’s J.6 hearing should be another “bombshell”. I’m sure you will be watching to see if you find something to continue to try to discredit the Committee’s important work. Good luck on that one.
Trump was on fire in Alaska. Try again bucko.
Yeah, there is continued litigation. And it will continue.
President Joe Biden will meet with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his leadership team, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Biden needs oil-rich Saudi Arabia’s help at a time of high gasoline prices. So expect Uncle Joe to do some brown nosing, bowing down & licking Salman’s shoes.
So much for transparency. Release the papers
“ The records created and maintained within a senator’s office are the property of the member. Most senators donate their collections to a research repository in their home state when they leave office. At the repository, they are made available to researchers after an appropriate amount of time has passed.”
If Biden donated his records to the university under certain conditions he’s legally allowed to do so. It seems Turley is being a tad dishonest with this issue.
Not everything at a university is supported by state funds. They also have endowment funds which can run into the billions and those are funds from private donors. An archive and even an email system can be funded by endowment money instead of state money.
Turley forgets that it’s customary for archives to make such records public after the Senator has died or when the Senator decides.
Fox pays Turley to “forget” these pesky little details.
Natacha—-You are one confused drag queen.
Natacha is a drag. She ain’t no queen.
anonymous says: “Natacha is a drag. She ain’t no queen.”…………
although she struts sitting down.
very good Cindy! Excellent
Hope all is well in Texas!
Estovir–Thank you! It’s hot, but hey, this is Texas! Hope all is well there. You probably knew that hubby grew up in West Palm Beach (after leaving Atlanta at age 11) One of his closest friends was a Cuban refugee—-sadly, was killed in Viet Nam.
After a setback before the Delaware Supreme Court, the University of Delaware is continuing its dogged effort to prevent the public from seeing the senatorial papers of President Joe Biden. The continued litigation, at public cost, has been criticized as an effort to shield President Biden from potentially embarrassing material from being accessed by the media or public interest groups.
Given the visceral comments Hunter has expressed about his stepmother, “Dr Jill”, of course U Delaware has no interest in sharing written records from Joe Biden’s past. They will follow the same trajectory as Oberlin College.
Of note, the Left have denounced religious institutions for decades. Now they vigorously promulgate Woke ex cathedra excommunication pronouncements and thunderously declare anathema sit to anyone and everyone who rejects their Woke oracles. Without the nifty papal tiara, they are just wannabe prelates
Woke Oberlin College is hit with FOUR MILLION DOLLARS in interest charges for dragging its heels in paying $36m defamation damages to family-run bakery over false racism claims
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10999721/Woke-Oberlin-College-hit-4m-dragging-heels-paying-36m-family-run-bakery.html
Got to protect the big guy.
In 6 months Republicans can subpoena the documents in their investigation about new laws concerning Congressional papers access. Dems have created new pathways, lets use them.
Well, don’t put Trey Gowdy in charge of those papers. He’ll just let the clock run out like he did on Benghazi. Makes you wonder if there really are two parties, doesn’t it?
Don’t worry; a 1-party duopoly rules the US. That’s the only explanation for both parties going full bore to spend now approaching $100B on a war in Ukraine (kicked back almost exclusively to US arms makers, just like the $5B/annual to “Israel, with US now ca. 130% of GDP,) where the US has absolutely no security interest and where 100% of Russian elites including Putin’s mortal enemies draw a line in the sand to keep NATO out.
My actual memory of Presidents goes back to President Eisenhower. Except for sexual infidelities, I do not recall any President receiving the cover that President Biden receives from every source that has the ability to shed light on his conduct. For example, I remember when Ralph Nader (and I think Elizabeth Warren) dubbed President Biden the Senator from Mastercard because of his shameless advocacy for the abusive credit card industry and yet he continued to be elected, even to higher office. This is even after he sponsored a 2005 amendment to bankruptcy laws that made it very difficult for consumers to file for bankruptcy even in the face of crushing, unexpected medical bills. We now know that corruption and cover-up characterized his terms as Vice-President because of the evidence provided by Hunter’s laptop. And yet, it all seems invisible to the media, universities and fellow party members. On top of that, these same culprits have done all they can to cover up President Biden’s obvious dementia although whenever he appears in public we are able to see proof of it with our own eyes. What accounts for this? Trump derangement syndrome may account for the recent cover-ups but what about his earlier career or his time as Vice-President? I wish I knew the answer.
It’s been nearly two years, and the fake news media still can’t figure out who “10% for the Big Guy” is. The media are like, Biden family corruption? Hit the snooze. Yawn. But look over there! Trump!
Bidens run Delaware like a mob family. Joey ‘Big Boy’ Biden.
honestlawyermostly: It’s almost like a game in which the dems and the media compete to see who can overlook the most heinous, blatantly obvious criminal behavior. Maybe the winner gets an interview with Joe. Oh, wait, he doesn’t do interviews except Jimmy Kimmel. What have we come to now?
“We” don’t “know” anything about the Hunter Biden laptop. No crimes have been alleged. This is all Fox narrative, just like the lie about the “obvious dementia”–all dodges to the daily revelations about Trump and the lengths to which he would go to try to hang onto power he stole in the first place.
Presidential Archide
So….all this processing and archiving….not a single red cent of State Money got spent on that process….really?
Not one red cent of State money got spent on the University Email System…..you must be kidding!
You cannot make this stuff up!
To what end is that stash of Biden’s stuff being kept there…..not enough room in his basement for him and the 1800 cardboard boxes?
Folks….don’t pee down my neck and tell me it is raining outside!
Universities don’t always use state funds for everything. There are also funds that come from private donors. Like Harvard there are endowment funds that come from former Alumni and those are not state funds.
It’s entirely possible that the library and the school’s email system was funded by an endowment rather than state funds. Turley conveniently leaves out this inconvenient little fact. Right now the university has over a billion dollars on endowment funds.
“Turley conveniently leaves out this inconvenient little fact.”
Says the one who apparently does not understand that money is fungible — and infinitely so at a university.
Comments such as yours, Sam, would lead one to believe that you agree with the Biden refusal to disclose what he did in Congress from the early 1970’s until 2012. Name any other President of the United States who has actively sought to ‘hide’ his decades of service in documented form from the public?
I think Martin Van Buren was the last one before Joe Biden, and that was back in 1837, 180+ years ago. If you care to clarify your position, we’ll be open minded.
“Comments such as yours, Sam, would lead one to believe that you agree with the Biden refusal . . .”
How on earth did you get that from my comment?
My comment was directed at S’ silly attempt to rationalize UoD’s/Biden’s refusal.
Sam, that’s irrelevant, because the money is still sourced from a private entity, not the state. In court those seeking the documents must prove that state money was used. Furthermore Biden is still president and he has an agreement with the university which it is obligated to honor or it risks a serious lawsuit for breach of contract.
Like Trump when he was president, he has the right to keep those documents private until he chooses not to.
Wonder if Hunter has endowed a bed (er, chair) at U of D?
Why would the University of Delaware do such a thing?? Everyone knows that Joe Biden is one of the most outstanding politicians in the latter half of the 20th century. I am quite certain the University would also take a similar position if Biden were a Republican in an attempt to protect his privacy. Leftists are always known to be fair and tolerant, even to their political opponents. And if you disagree with this statement you are most certainly a deplorable and deserving of most severe condemnation.
antonio
Monumentcolorado says:
“And watch our resident lefties start with “What about….”.
Wrong again. Release the Biden papers!!
I’m all for transparency unlike lying Trumpists such as yourself who oppose the investigation into 1/6 by the bi-partisan Congressional committee which, Turley, to his credit, supports notwithstanding its drawbacks.
Has Jeff ever written anything without referring to “Trumpets”? Talk about small-minded.
Wiseoldlawyer asks:
“Has Jeff ever written anything without referring to “Trumpets”? Talk about small-minded.”
It’s “Trumpists.” “Lying Trumpists.”
The man’s entire political career has been paid for by taxpayers, yet he locks away his work product as if he, and only he, owns access to it? Bugger off Joe Biden, you corrupt, doddering old fool. The entire Biden clan is a bunch of sick, corrupt, entitled, lazy, no good, lying, s.o.b’s — selling his public office, running Delaware like a mob family. Joe Biden is and has always been greedy, filthy corrupt. No respect for him, he’s entitled to nothing, he’s no better than dirt.
He’s dumber than dirt, too.
So is his wife, ‘call me Dr Jersey Jill.’
Once the “Dr” opens her mouth to speak, we know we ain’t dealing with a brainiac.
“Si se pwodway” said Dr. Jill, butchering pronunciation. You teach English doncha, dr. Jill?
And today the Dr. has another gem: “You Hispanics are as unique as tacos.”
Even Hunter called her a “f**king moron.”
And Hunter should know, because he is the “smartest guy” Joe Biden knows.
Thanks to Turley (once again), we learn more about the duplicity of the political classes.
And the unbelievable lack of curiosity by the MSM.
And watch our resident lefties start with “What about….”.
You cry “lefties” on every single post, while it’s true that says something about you, it also reveals the biased slant of the writer.
I know a criminal conspiracy when I see it…the Democrat Party IS A CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY
“There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the Democratic & Republican parties.” George Wallace
“There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the Democratic & Republican parties.” While George Wallace, a noted racist, might have been somewhat correct back then, times have changed and the difference between the parties now, is vast. To say that everyone “does it,” is a great way of dodging the questionable things you do.
Georgie Boy: I wish it were vast. I’m getting more and more cynical after Trey Gowdy let the clock run out on Benghazi, and where is John Durham these days? This idea that we have two parties is nonsense. We have one: The party of career politicians. They can’t win without an opponent, so they take turns being the others’ opponents so we, who continue to believe their campaign lies, will continue to vote thinking that will make a difference. It is a show, and a broken system. The solution will NEVER come from within the system that spawned the problem. Our congresspersons are for sale, lined up at the feed trough of foreign interests and lobbyists, getting rich while in office and later, while hired to be lobbyists themselves. Term limits? Right, need to be approved by the very people getting rich because there are no term limits. It’s pathetic, disgusting and the only thing worse is that most of America believes we have a government “of the people, by the people and for the people.” Prove it. I’ll wait…