AG Ferguson intends to file lawsuit against Trump Administration to prevent imminent sale of National Archives building in Seattle

The Region X National Archives has been located on Sand Point Way in Seattle since 1963

Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced today that his office recently uncovered a dramatic change in the timeline for the proposed sale of the National Archives building in Seattle buried in a 74-page meeting minutes document from October. 

In it, the Public Buildings Reform Board (PBRB) disclosed that it would move to immediately sell the National Archives and Records Administration’s (NARA) building in Seattle, along with a “portfolio” of other federal properties, in early 2021. It had planned on selling the properties individually over the next year.

PBRB officials claimed COVID-19’s effects on the commercial real estate market justified the expedited, bundled sale.

An assistant attorney general recently discovered the plan listed simply as an “update” on the PBRB website. No officials from PBRB, the General Services Administration (GSA), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) or the U.S. Department of Justice notified the Attorney General’s Office about the October decision.

Ferguson intends to file a lawsuit against the Trump Administration to stop it from proceeding with an expedited sale of the National Archives and Records Administration’s (NARA) building in Seattle.

“The federal government is well aware of the intense public interest in the National Archives building,” Ferguson said. 

“Despite that, they chose to bury a dramatic change in the timeline for the sale. This is consistent with the utter lack of transparency demonstrated by the federal government since the start of this process. This is not how government should work.”

In light of the expedited sale schedule, Ferguson will also ask the court handling his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits against these agencies to expedite Washington’s motion for summary judgment, currently set for consideration in April 2021. 

The federal government has asked the court for permission to delay its response to Washington’s lawsuit until March — by which time it will have sold the building, according to the newly uncovered plans.

More information HERE