Reagan library can't fully account for 80,000 artifacts

A 'near universal' security breakdown left items open to theft by insiders, an audit says.

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
November 8, 2007

WASHINGTON -- The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is unable to find or account for tens of thousands of valuable mementos of Reagan's White House years because a "near universal" security breakdown left the artifacts vulnerable to pilfering by insiders, an audit by the National Archives inspector general has concluded.

Inspector General Paul Brachfeld said that his office was investigating allegations that a former employee stole Reagan memorabilia but that the probe had been hampered by the facility's sloppy record-keeping.