All of what I've read so far makes it unclear as to whether we're talking about public records or if these were personal papers kept in his legislative office.  If the former, this is another step down the slippery slope.  Used to be a time when folks expected to know something about the people we elected to office.  Nowadays, our current generation of elected officials feel that we should accept whatever we find on the web today; witness Peggy Wilson picking and choosing over the years whether to acknowledge that she also served in the North Carolina legislature.  Then there's the Ted Stevens papers debacle.  An employee of the Rasmuson Library recently wiped any mention of that from their Wikipedia article, even though they continue to have displays of materials from the papers in their hallways.