Donald Trump reportedly destroyed “hundreds” of White House records during his administration — in clear violation of federal law — despite multiple warnings from his aides, the Washington Post reported Saturday, citing several former Trump staffers who spoke with the newspaper.
According to The Post, “the documents included briefings and schedules, articles and letters, memos both sensitive and mundane.” He ripped paper into quarters with two big, clean strokes — or occasionally more vigorously, into smaller scraps. He left the detritus on his desk in the Oval Office, in the trash can of his private West Wing study and on the floor aboard Air Force One, among many other places. And he did it all in violation of the Presidential Records Act, despite being urged by at least two chiefs of staff and the White House counsel to follow the law on preserving documents.”
The article cites interviews with eleven former Trump staffers, associates and others familiar with the habit to reveal that “Trump’s shredding of paper was far more widespread and indiscriminate than previously known and — despite multiple admonishments — extended throughout his presidency, resulting in special practices to deal with the torn fragments.”
Last week, the National Archives confirmed that some Trump White House documents were ripped apart by the former president and taped back together by aides. The documents were handed over to the House Select Committee investigating the Trump-fueled storming of the US Capitol on January 6.
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“It is unclear how many records were lost or permanently destroyed through Trump’s ripping routine, as well as what consequences, if any, he might face. Hundreds of documents, if not more, were likely torn up, those familiar with the practice say,” according to the newspaper.
“One senior Trump White House official said he and other White House staffers frequently put documents into ‘burn bags’ to be destroyed, rather than preserving them, and would decide themselves what should be saved and what should be burned. When the Jan. 6 committee asked for certain documents related to Trump’s efforts to pressure Vice President Mike Pence, for example, some of them no longer existed in this person’s files because they had already been shredded, said someone familiar with the request,” according to The Post.
