On Monday, a version of Donald Trump’s motion to compel discovery in the Mar-a-Lago documents case was released by Judge Aileen Cannon with much of the information originally redacted by Biden’s special counsel Jack Smith being unredacted.
In one section titled "Early Indications of NARA Bias," which was heavily redacted in its original, January 16 version, it now states that NARA General Counsel Gary Stern sent an internal email attaching a draft letter to President Trump’s [Presidential Records Act] representatives. Stern noted that he 'had several conversations' with [White House Office of Records Management]'s [redacted] and that [redacted] had 'raised some of these concerns directly with David [Ferriero, NARA’s Archivist]."
"Stern’s draft concluded that 'things were very chaotic, as they always are in the course of a one-term transition,' and he acknowledged that 'the transfer of the Trump electronic records is still ongoing and won’t be complete for several more months.'"
The majority of this section, including an exhibit note explaining that a "NARA employee explained to the FBI that 'it is not uncommon that PRA material collection extends past the close of any presidential administration,' sometimes,' well after the close of any given presidential administration,'" were redacted in the original version.
Another section, titled "The Biden Administration Weaponizes the PRA," states "in late-September 2021, without disclosing that NARA had already drafted a referral letter and contacted DOJ, Deputy White House Counsel Jonathan Su asked one of President Trump’s PRA representatives to permit [redacted] to access notes from the Trump administration related to records handling. Su then intervened when Stern offered to provide a copy of the notes to President Trump’s PRA representative: 'Could we discuss the process before anything is provided to him?'"
The section, after the name Jonathan Su, was redacted.
"Stern agreed to coordinate on this issue with the Biden Administration, but informed Su that the request was atypical; 'normally, we would have to provide the records to him per the notification/review process, before we could provide anything to you.' Two days later, Stern assured Su that the PRA representative 'had not asked to see these records.'" This section was redacted in its entirety.
The section continues, "On October 5, 2021, Stern sent an internal email describing a strategy to 'time' NARA’s public communications with Congress in order to prejudice President Trump. Stern’s email attached a 'draft letter to the Hill re social media records,' which he proposed to 'run … past WH Counsel' before notifying President Trump."
"Three days later, the Biden Administration instructed NARA to reject President Trump’s assertion of executive privilege and to disclose records to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (the 'J6 Committee')."
Another section titled, The White House Instructs NARA to Contact Prosecutors, featured a heavily redacted second portion of the segment. It began by stating that the special counsel’s office "falsely claimed that NARA independently referred this matter to DOJ on February 9, 2022."
The section now adds, "However, the evidence demonstrates that Su—on behalf of the Biden Administration—referred NARA to DOJ on January 21, 2022."
"According to an FBI Report, Stern and [redacted], also of NARA, 'consulted' with Su in late-January 2021. During the consult, Su 'referred Stern and [redacted] to Department of Justice Associate Deputy Attorney General Emily Loed and Associate Deputy Attorney General David Newman," the now-unredacted version states.
On January 24, 2022, Loeb and Newman instructed [redacted] and Stern 'to refer the matter to their Office of the Inspector General' ('NARA-OIG') and 'the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) IG.'"
'"Newman also provided DOJ contacts Jay Bratt, Chief of the National Security Division, and Corey Amundson, Chief of the Public Integrity Section.' [Redacted] and Stern 'had additional conversations with Bratt and Amundson regarding next steps."
The release of the far less redacted version of the motion came after an early April order from Judge Cannon. Under the order, the special counsel was required to file an index identifying potential government witnesses identified in the materials included in the motion to compel, and the parties in the case were ordered to work together regarding the redaction of materials that could identify a potential witness.