One week after President Trump fired the head of the National Archives and Records Administration, the second-in-command, the deputy archivist, has informed colleagues of his intent to retire, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to CBS News Friday.
William “Jay” Bosanko served as chief operating officer for the National Archives when the FBI served a search warrant on Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 in order to seize boxes of Trump records, including classified material, that the agency said had not been properly transferred to the Archives at the conclusion of Mr. Trump’s first term.
Mr. Trump was federally indicted in the case in June 2023, but following a long legal saga, the charges were formally dismissed earlier this week. Mr. Trump has been publicly critical of the National Archives since the case was brought.
Bosanko also held the same position when it was revealed in January 2023 that classified documents were found at the Delaware home of then-President Joe Biden, along with at the Penn Biden Center. No criminal charges were brought in that case.
Bosanko has worked for the National Archives since 1993, and has served as deputy archivist since December 2023. In that role, he runs the day-to-day operations of the agency.
“When an individual controls the records, they control the story,” Bosanko said in an interview with “60 Minutes” last September. “They control what the American people can know or not know about their presidency.”
He also reflected on what he believes is lost when presidential records are not transferred at the end of an administration.
“That strikes at the very heart of the historical record, the completeness of it, the ability to understand decisions,” Bosanko said. “And so it’s important for historians, and ultimately the American people to understand all of the pieces that came in and made up that decision making.”
On Feb. 7, the White House announced that it had dismissed National Archivist Collen Shogan, the nation’s top record keeper, and installed Secretary of State Marco Rubio as her acting replacement.
Bosanko, as deputy archivist, would have been in line to serve as acting head of the agency.
Norah O’Donnell and
contributed to this report.
