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B-222963 1 (1986-06-10)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabkve0001 and id is 1 raw text is: COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES WsINr TO D.C. am 30963 B-222963 ULWL. - June 10, 1986 The Honorable Thomas F. Eagleton RELEASED Ranking Minority Member Committee on Governmental Affairs United States Senate Dear Senator Eagleton: This responds to your letter of April 22, 1986, also signed by Senators Mathias and Chiles. You asked us to review a recent opinion by the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), Department of Justice, which addresses regulations issued by the Archivist of the United States to carry out his functions under the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974, as amended, with respect to the historical materials of former President Nixon. The enclosed detailed analysis presents the results of our review and answers each of the specific questions you pose regarding the OLC opinion. The most significant aspect of the opinion, in our view, is OLC's conclusion that the Archivist must accept without challenge any claim of execu- tive privilege asserted by former President Nixon, even if the Archivist believes that the documents involved are outside the scope of the privilege. We find this conclusion to be inconsistent with the Archivist's regulations and contrary to his statutory responsibilities under the 1974 Act. This conclusion is also at odds with past practice under the Act. On several occasions the Archivist, with the support of the Justice Department, has reviewed and evaluated claims of executive privilege asserted by Mr. Nixon and has rejected many of Mr. Nixon's claims. Finally, we believe that OLC's conclusion in this case calls into question whether the Justice Department will permit the Archivist to exercise fully his responsibilities under the Presidential Records Act of 1978 with respect to the materials of future ex-Presidents. We hope that our analysis will be useful to you in considering the issues raised by the OLC opinion. Sincerely yours, Acting Comptroll eVGeneral of the United States Enclosure

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