When historians will write the history of the Trump Presidency a key theme will be how Trump ignored laws and there were no consquences. The latest excample comes via The Washington Post which reports that the National Archieves had to go to Mar-a-Largo to get White House records.
President Donald Trump improperly removed multiple boxes from the White House that were retrieved by the National Archives and Records Administration last month from his Mar-a-Lago residence because they contained documents and other items that should have been turned over to the agency, according to three people familiar with the visit.
The recovery of the boxes from Trump’s Florida resort raises new concerns about his adherence to the Presidential Records Act, which requires the preservation of memos, letters, notes, emails, faxes and other written communications related to a president’s official duties.
Trump advisers deny any nefarious intent and said the boxes contained mementos, gifts, letters from world leaders and other correspondence. The items included correspondence with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which Trump once described as “love letters,” as well as a letter left for his successor by President Barack Obama, according to two people familiar with the contents.
Discussions between the Archives and the former president’s lawyers that began last year resulted in the transfer of the records in January, according to one person familiar with the conversations. Another person familiar with the materials said Trump advisers discussed what had to be returned in December. People familiar with the transfer, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal details.
The Archives declined to comment. A spokesman for Trump did not respond to a request for comment.
The Archives has had a problem with Trump:
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The Archives has struggled to cope with a president who flouted document retention requirements and frequently ripped up official documents, leaving hundreds of pages taped back together — or some that arrived at the Archives still in pieces. Some damaged documents were among those turned over to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
“The only way that a president can really be held accountable long term is to preserve a record about who said what, who did what, what policies were encouraged or adopted, and that is such an important part of the long-term scope of accountability — beyond just elections and campaigns,” presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky said.
From a national security perspective, Chervinsky added, if records and documents are not disclosed, “that could pose a real concern if the next administration is flying blind without that information.”
Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), a member of the Jan. 6 committee who did not have knowledge of the Mar-a-Lago transfer, said the overall records situation reflected the “unconventional nature of how this White House operated.”
“Unconventional”=understatement.
It’s all a pristine example of Trump’s approach to the Presidency, namely that the vast power exists for him and not for the American people, to whom these records in fact belong.
National Archives had to retrieve Trump White House records from Mar-a-Lago https://t.co/ZzBZbaQZOz
— Harry Litman (@harrylitman) February 7, 2022
I know I speak for all of you when I express my complete shock and utter incredulity at the suggestion that our fastidiously conscientious and incorruptibly virtuous former president could possibly have committed even the slightest infringement of the Presidential Records Act https://t.co/66AGWWCnnk
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) February 7, 2022
Reposting this: pic.twitter.com/luWy4nWpNj
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) February 7, 2022
The key to the stories about Trump's serial violation of the Presidential Records Act is that he was repeatedly told he was breaking the law, but he kept doing it.
Same was true of the Hatch Act. His whole administration's attitude was that obeying the law was optional.
— Paul Waldman (@paulwaldman1) February 7, 2022
Imagine how WaPo would report on Obama keeping presidential records in a box in Chicago and think about how they labeled Trumps Mar-a-Lago law evasion merely “cavalier” today.
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 7, 2022
It’s beyond time that we put some teeth into the Presidential Records Act.
If it’s not enforced, why bother having it? https://t.co/AN1NAbNXQU
— Angry Staffer (@Angry_Staffer) February 7, 2022
Donald Trump violated the Presidential Records Act by destroying his White House documents.
Under Title 18, Section 2071 of the US Code, anyone who violates this act will be barred from running for public office.
— Jack Cocchiarella (@JDCocchiarella) February 6, 2022
Photo 210123496 © Jillian Cain | Dreamstime.com
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.