Larry,

I'll take a stab at this.  I'm a long-time lurker, first-time poster to
this listserv.

The Presidential Recordings Act didn't go into statutory effect until 1981,
even though it was passed in 1978.  Prior to the Presidential Records Act,
Presidential materials were the private property of the President and his
staff.  All NARA Presidential libraries before Nixon, as well as the Ford
and Carter libraries, rely on Deed of Gift for their presidential materials.

So, from a legal standpoint with regard to the PRA, I can see how Mr. Raab
might have ended up with the tape.

I'm not sure about the classified/unclassified aspect.  But if it was never
officially judged to be classified by any government agency or White House
staff member, I assume it is automatically considered unclassified.  I
think it boils down to the nature of the information discussed on the tape
and whether it meets certain thresholds.  Since it's gone to press, I can
only guess it's been vetted.

Matt Hebert
NARA Archivist
College Park, MD

Information not relevant for my reply has been deleted to reduce the
electronic footprint and to save the sanity of digest subscribers

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
To unsubscribe from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message.
mailto:[log in to unmask]