Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) are investigating whether any documents containing the alleged aliases of President Joe Biden were found among records taken from his former Washington office space, the Penn-Biden Center.
The two Republican senators sent a letter (pdf) to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) this week, looking for new information about thousands of President Biden’s communications that reportedly used or referenced a series of pseudonyms and secret email accounts. Mr. Grassley and Mr. Johnson specifically asked if any of these alleged pseudonym communications were stored in the Penn-Biden Center, where classified documents were also discovered last year.
The president’s alleged pseudonyms have become a topic of growing interest for Republican lawmakers and conservative organizations.
Mr. Grassley and Mr. Johnson said they’d first identified the alleged pseudonyms—Robert L. Peters, Robin Ware, and JRB Ware—in July of 2021. They also identified possible personal email accounts and another account containing “67stingray”—a possible reference to President Biden’s prized 1967 Corvette Stingray.
After identifying the various possible pseudonyms and corresponding email accounts, the two Republican Senators began asking the Biden White House about the steps then-Vice President Biden “took to ensure that he followed federal record-keeping and archival requirements.”
In August, the House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) specifically requested unredacted copies of emails President Biden may have sent to his son Hunter Biden under these alleged aliases.
The Southeastern Legal Foundation has also been pursuing records of these alleged pseudonyms through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request since last year. On Monday, the legal organization announced that NARA had identified nearly 5,400 responsive records—but would not turn over the documents. Mr. Gassley and Mr. Johnson sent their letter to NARA the following day, asking the agency for more details about the alleged documents.
Where Were Biden Alias Records Found?
One particular point of interest for Mr. Grassley and Mr. Johnson is whether any of the nearly 5,400 alleged pseudonym communications involving President Biden were found among the boxes of records his personal legal team moved out of the Penn-Biden Center last year.
The Penn-Biden Center became a key office space for President Biden after his time serving as the vice president. Formally known as the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, President Biden started the office in 2018 through a partnership with the University of Pennsylvania. The Penn-Biden Center worked as a sort of foreign policy think tank between administrations.
The Penn-Biden Center became the focus of widespread public attention earlier this year after the Biden administration revealed that the president’s personal lawyer, Patrick Moore, had discovered classified documents in the office space while packing up transferring President Biden’s records to his office in Boston, Massachusetts. According to NARA, Mr. Moore had moved nine boxes worth of President Biden’s records to his Boston office space before he discovered the classified documents at the Penn-Biden Center in November. Mr. Moore reportedly handed over those nine boxes to NARA.
“Did any of the Biden records discovered at Mr. Moore’s Boston office include the pseudonyms and email addresses listed below that then-Vice President Biden used?” the Republican senators asked, before listing account names.
The two Republican senators also asked if NARA had finished reviewing the nine boxes of records Mr. Moore had turned over. If NARA had not finished reviewing the contents of the nine boxes, the senators asked if the agency could still be confident that it had found all of the documents containing President Biden’s alleged pseudonyms and personal email addresses.
