Correction Notice: A previously published version of this article questioned whether or not the Obama foundation was using a former furniture warehouse to store classified documents. We have updated this article to confirm the Obama Foundation is not storing classified documents at a former warehouse.
Research from PolitiFact has confirmed that President Barack Obama and the Obama Foundation are no longer keeping classified records in a former furniture store.
“The National Archives and Records Administration temporarily kept classified records from the Obama administration in one of its facilities that had been converted from a former furniture store, but they were later moved to a facility in the Washington D.C. area,” the article continues.
Any claims that suggest Obama still keeps classified documents in a warehouse are “wrong,” the article continues.
Numerous media outlets have taken a closer look at Obama’s handling of classified documents following the unprecedented FBI raid on the private residence of President Donald Trump.
Documents under Trump’s watch were kept at his private residence while Obama previously used a former furniture warehouse.
Critics have claimed government officials have a double standard because Obama was using storage that was less secure at the warehouse compared to Trump’s private residence at Mar-a-Lago.
A letter obtain by numerous media outlets shows the director of the Obama Foundation, Robbin Cohen, writing to then-Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero and discussing the terms under which Obama will “safeguard presidential materials.”
The letter states, “The Obama Foundation agrees to transfer up to three million three hundred thousand dollars ($3,300,000) to the National Archives Trust Fund (NATF) to support the move of classified and unclassified Obama Presidential records and artifacts from Hoffman Estates to NARA-controlled facilities that conform to the agency’s archival storage standards for such records and artifacts, and for the modification of such spaces.”
“The first transfer of $300,000 was already made on August 9, 2018. An additional interim transfer will be made within 180 days of that date. Subsequent payments are subject to the negotiation of terms of the digitization process and museum operations,” the letter says.
You can read more at PolitiFact.
