Which agencies are not under the executive branch?
Who is the agencies the agent for?
Doesn’t matter.
“Significantly, the PRA explicitly excludes agency records from the definition of “presidential records.” Under Section 2201(2)(B) the term presidential records “does not include any documentary materials that are . . . official records of an agency.” As if the term agency were not clear enough, the PRA incorporates the definition set forth in Section 552 of Title 5, U.S. Code. (That definition has been moved. In 1978, when the PRA was enacted, it was in Section 552(e); it is now in Section 552(f).) That provision broadly instructs that an agency is any executive department, military department, Government corporation, Government controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch of the Government (including the Executive Office of the President), or any independent regulatory agency.
Further, the provision broadly defines an agency record to include any information the agency or its contractors maintain in connection with the agency’s operations. Patently, intelligence reports compiled by the Defense Intelligence Agency, CIA, NSA, FBI, and other U.S. national-security agencies are agency records. They are not presidential records by definition and by common sense — i.e., these agencies are created by Congress, their operations are authorized by Congress, they are underwritten with taxpayer funds by Congress, and Congress is empowered to conduct oversight of their activities, which necessitates that agency officials and lawmakers have access to their records.”