Published 18:04 IST, January 17th 2021
US: Historians tape together vital records that Trump tore up during his term
With just days left for Donald Trump’s term to end, there is a growing concern that the White House records won’t be complete, leaving a hole in history.
With just days left for US President Donald Trump’s term to end, there is a growing concern that the White House records won’t be complete, leaving a hole in history. During his Presidential term, Trump was cavalier about the law and he had ripped up documents before tossing them out. The White House staff had to spend hours taping them back together, however, they had quickly also learned about the President’s disregard for documents as they witnessed him tearing them up and discarding them.
Solomon Lartey, a former White House records analyst, revealed that the outgoing President was told to stop doing it, but he didn’t. Lartey said that the first document he tapped back together was a letter from Senator Chuck Schumer about a government shutdown. He further added that the White House Chief of Staff’s officer told Trump that the documents were considered presidential records and needed to be preserved by law.
Till date, nearly ten records staff tended up on Scotch tape duty, starting with Trump’s first days in the White House. According to AP, the President had also confiscated an interpreter’s notes after speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump had scolded his White House counsel for taking notes at a meeting during Russian investigation by former special counsel Robert Mueller. Top executive branch offices had to be reminded repeatedly not to conduct official business on private email or text messages and to preserve if they did.
Now, as Trump is delaying the transfer of documents to the National Archives and Records Administration, concern about the integrity of the records has further heightened. Lack of complete record might hinder investigations of Trump, from his impeachment trial and other prospective federal inquiries to investigations in the state of New York. There is an acknowledgement that noncompliance with the Presidential Records Act carries little consequences for the outgoing president.
‘Vital to historians’
Richard Immerman at the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations said, “Historians are likely to suffer from far more holes than has been the norm”. He added, “In the Trump White House, not only has record-keeping not been a priority, but we have multiple examples of it seeking to conceal or destroy that record”.
It is worth noting that the Presidential Records Act states that a president cannot destroy records until he seeks the advice of the national archivist and notifies Congress. However, the law doesn’t require the President to heed the archivist’s advice and it doesn’t even prevent the president from going ahead and destroying records. But past presidents records are still important because they can help a current president craft new policies and prevent mistakes from being repeated.
“Presidential records tell our nation’s story from a unique perspective and are essential to an incoming administration in making informed decisions,” said Lee White, director of the National Coalition for History. “They are equally vital to historians”.
(Inputs & Image: AP)
Updated 18:04 IST, January 17th 2021