According to a conservative nonprofit, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) acknowledged being in possession of nearly 5,400 emails, electronic records, and other documents that would potentially show that Joe Biden used pseudonyms while emailing his son Hunter during his time as vice president.
The claim came after a Freedom of Information Act request made by the Atlanta-based legal advocacy group the Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) in June 2022, the nonprofit organization said on Monday.
On the same day, SLF filed a federal lawsuit against NARA to obtain the thousands of emails in NARA's possession.
The emails, allegedly sent by the then-vice president using the three different pseudonyms, have recently come under scrutiny as the House Republican investigation continues over Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings.
Joe Biden has consistently rejected accusations of influence peddling, denying any wrongdoing and saying there was "an absolute wall" between the business dealings of his family and his role as vice president. Republicans have so far failed to produce any damning evidence tying the president to any wrongdoing.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment by email on Tuesday.
What Has the National Archives Revealed?
SLF is a Georgia-based legal advocacy group "dedicated to defending liberty and Rebuilding the American Republic," according to its own mission statement. Founded in 1976, the nonprofit declares to act to protect freedom of speech and property rights, as well as combating government overreach.
In a press release accompanying the announcement of its federal lawsuit against NARA, the group wrote that it had initially requested "these now highly sought after emails" from NARA on June 9, 2022, through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. But it added that "unfortunately, after identifying nearly 5,400 potentially responsive records, NARA has dragged its feet and still has not produced a single email."
The conservative law firm is now asking the court to order NARA to release all nearly 5,400 emails and documents, which SLF claims might show that Joe Biden forwarded government information and discussed government business with his son.
According to the lawsuit, NARA's director of archival operations division Stephannie Oriabure told them on June 24, 2022: "We have performed a search of our collection for Vice Presidential records related to your [June 9, 2022] request and have identified approximately 5,138 email messages, 25 electronic files and 200 pages of potentially responsive records that must be processed in order to respond to your request."
What Pseudonyms Did Biden Use?
In a report from The New York Post in July 2021, the newspaper confirmed that then-vice president Biden used three pseudonyms for private email addresses during his time in office: Robert Peters, Robin Ware, and JRB Ware.
Newsweek attempted to reach out to the email address cited in that report—Robert.L.Peters@pci.gov—but received a bounce back early on Tuesday.
Could The Emails Be Released?
A NARA case record containing four emails featuring Joe Biden's alleged pseudonyms was first made public by the archive in June. It contained two emails that were withheld and two others that had redactions.
Two of those emails were sent from then-Biden aide John Flynn to the then-vice president on May 27, 2016, and June 15, 2016. Hunter Biden was a CC'd recipient of those two emails.
Earlier this month, the GOP-led House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer demanded NARA release the unredacted copies of these emails, as well as other documents.
"Joe Biden has stated there was 'an absolute wall' between his family's foreign business schemes and his duties as Vice President, but evidence reveals that access was wide open for his family's influence peddling," Comer said in a statement on August 17.
The House committee is seeking "all unredacted documents and communications in which then-Vice President Joe Biden used a pseudonym," with the pseudonyms listed as "Robert Peters, Robin Ware, and JRB Ware."
"The American public deserves to know what is in them," said SLF General Counsel Kimberly Hermann in a statement accompanying the press release related to the group's lawsuit.
Newsweek contacted SLF for comment by email on Tuesday.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs ... Read more
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