The National Archives and Records Administration has received more than 80 calls over the past decade from libraries across the country that have found classified materials in their possession, suggesting the mishandling of government secrets is more widespread than initially thought.
 
Mark Bradley, who directs the Archives’ Information Security Oversight Office, told a congressional committee in March that scores of classified materials from retired congressmen have turned up in the nation’s libraries, according to a transcript of his testimony released Wednesday.

When members of Congress donate their papers to a library after retiring, those papers are processed, Mr. Bradley told the House Intelligence Committee. Librarians call the Archives to alert that classified information was discovered, and the agency responds by sending officials to retrieve the materials, according to the transcript.

Since 2010, the agency has received more than 80 calls from libraries that have discovered classified materials.
 
For example, Sen. Edmund Muskie of Maine — who stepped down from Congress in 1980 and served as President Carter’s secretary of state — included 98 classified documents in a batch he donated to Bates College, Mr. Bradley said.
 
He said that every administration since President Reagan has mishandled classified documents.

The House Intelligence Committee held the hearing to examine why classified documents keep turning up where they shouldn’t be. Classified materials have been discovered at President Biden’s Delaware home and former office, the home of former Vice President Mike Pence, and last year, federal agents seized hundreds of classified documents from former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

“This is a systemic problem that dates to the Reagan administration. We need a better way for elected officials who are leaving office — both in the Executive Branch and Legislative Branch to properly return classified material and protect the integrity of our national security,” said committee Chairman Mike Turner, Ohio Republican.

William Bosanko, chief operating officer for the National Archives, told the committee that there is no document tracking system in the White House, making it very difficult to keep tabs on where government secrets wind up.

“So anybody’s ability to know that something has gone missing or astra is very limited,” he said, according to the transcript.

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.