Release of Reagan Papers Delayed Again

For the third time, the Bush administration has delayed releasing 68,000 pages of President Reagan’s White House records, including vice presidential papers from President Bush’s father.

The papers were to have come out in January, 12 years after Reagan left office, as provided under law. The White House delayed the release to June 21, then to the last day in August.

On Friday, White House Counsel Alberto R. Gonzales sought a third extension, this time with no deadline, so the administration can review the records and consult representatives of former Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton.

The delay in opening the Reagan records “has been necessary for this administration to review the many constitutional and legal questions raised by [the] potential release of sensitive and confidential presidential records,” Gonzales wrote in a letter to the National Archives sent Friday.

He did not say why this examination was still incomplete, but the letter suggests the additional review will require “a few additional weeks.”

Reagan’s records are the first set scheduled to be released under the Presidential Records Act of 1978, which followed Watergate and former President Nixon’s attempts to hold on to his papers and tape-recordings.

The White House said in seeking earlier delays that because the release would set a precedent for future administrations, extra time was needed to make sure it was done correctly.

The White House has denied allegations by some historians that Bush is trying to protect his current aides, many of whom worked for Reagan and Bush’s father.

“I think it’s a scandal to hold them back,” Anna Nelson, a historian at American University, said Friday. “I think the whole point of the Presidential Records Act is to open documents. It goes against the spirit of the law.”

She said she suspects the White House is worried what people like Secretary of State Colin L. Powell or Budget Director Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. might have written in briefing papers when they worked for Reagan.

Among others who worked for Reagan and now work for Bush are chief White House economist Lawrence B. Lindsey, White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr., Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton and Kenneth W. Dam, nominated for the No. 2 job at Treasury.