[antonico]

I thought they were also obtainable by the DOJ/FBI is they are evidence in a criminal investigation that is active? The records don’t belong to Obama; they’re not his personal effects. So the documents are property of the US Government and therefore can be obtained by any criminal investigation. Yes?

[joshua c]

I thought they were also obtainable by the DOJ/FBI is they are evidence in a criminal investigation that is active? The records don’t belong to Obama; they’re not his personal effects. So the documents are property of the US Government and therefore can be obtained by any criminal investigation. Yes?

---

Agreed. They know this but the point of the move is to delay the release i.e., tie it up in the courts. It is the only move they had, and a pretty weak one at that. I would say they are on the ropes on this issue, it is just a matter of which round they going down in.

[Liz]

Contact consumerservices@penguinrandomhouse.com

MESSAGE: Penguin/Random House, a faithful and premier seller of presidential history, has announced a 60 million dollar book deal with former President Barack Obama.

Penguin/Random House editors should be aware: Mr Obama has announced US laws constrain the release of official presidential documents. Documents from the Obama dministration remain closed to the public for five years after an administration has left office.

Therefore, Obama cannot write about them for five years without breaking the US laws to which he has decided to faithfully uphold.

Unless Mr Obama has informed Penguin/Random House of the legal strictures on his official presidential papers, it appears Penguin/Random House is being hampered in its studied capacity to unfold the history of Mr Obama’s presidency to book-buyers across the globe.

Penguin/Random House might choose to end its book deal rather than misrepresent the contents of a book under Obama’s authorship.