In 2015, Senator Chuck Grassley, then chairman of Senate Judiciary, wrote the Archivist about Hillary Clinton’s private email server and missing federal records. NARA published the correspondence. Grassley’s October 22, 2015 follow-up asked whether the Department of Justice had initiated a recovery action and, if not, why NARA had not requested one under 44 U.S.C. § 3106.
Ferriero’s November 6, 2015 response is a primary PDF on archives.gov. He wrote that State and Justice were already engaged, and: “in light of the ongoing activities, reviews, inquiries, and litigation described above, in which the Department of Justice reportedly is actively involved, we do not believe that it is appropriate or necessary at this time for NARA to request that the Attorney General initiate an action.”
That sentence is his. Fox News later put it next to the 2022 Maloney letter. The comparison is commentary. The 2015 letter is documented. It is not an indictment of Clinton. It is not an indictment of Ferriero. It is what he told Grassley he would not do.