Delaware Supreme Court Continues Battle for Biden’s Senate Records.

The Delaware Supreme Court is currently deliberating on a case that questions whether the University of Delaware violated the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by denying requests for President Joe Biden’s U.S. Senate records. This legal battle revolves around more than 1,850 boxes of archival records and 415 gigabytes of electronic records from Biden’s time in the Senate, which are currently housed at the University of Delaware.

In April 2020, the conservative nonprofit Judicial Watch and Daily Caller News Foundation submitted FOIA requests to access these records and communications related to their donation. However, the university denied these requests, leading to a legal dispute.

Legal Battle

Bill Green, the attorney for Judicial Watch and Daily Caller News Foundation, argued on June 14 that it is crucial to investigate the steps taken by the university. He emphasized the need for an adversarial process to test the fairness of the university’s categorical determinations.

Initially, the two appellants separately petitioned the Delaware attorney general’s office to review the university’s denial. However, the deputy attorney general responded that the documents were not subject to FOIA because they did not meet the definition of “public records.” Judicial Watch and Daily Caller News Foundation appealed this determination to the state’s Superior Court, which ultimately sided with the university and the attorney general’s office. But when the appellants took the case to the Delaware Supreme Court, they achieved a partial victory.

In December 2021, the state Supreme Court ruled that the University of Delaware had not provided sufficient details to prove that the requested documents were not public records. As a result, the case was sent back to the Superior Court for further review.

In response to the ruling, the University of Delaware submitted a supplemental affidavit from its FOIA coordinator, Jennifer Becnel-Guzzo. However, Green argued that this affidavit does not meet the university’s burden of proof for three reasons: ambiguity, lack of search related to the requests, and reliance on hearsay.

Burden of Proof

On the other hand, attorney William Manning, representing the University of Delaware, contended that a search was unnecessary to determine that the requested documents did not qualify as public records. He stated that no state funds were used for the custody and curation of Biden’s records, making them ineligible for FOIA.