Trump administration faces lawsuit seeking to prevent destruction of presidential records
Group files suit to preempt what one member describes as a 'bonfire of records' on White House grounds
A group of organizations has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in an effort to protect presidential records from possibly being destroyed.
The Washington Post reports that this is due to the possible legal ramifications that such documents may have on President Donald Trump after his term expires in January.
The plaintiffs are a collective of historian and archival organizations: the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, the American Historical Association, the National Security Archive and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). The suit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
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The groups have stated that they believe due to “potential legal and financial exposure once he leaves office, there is a growing risk that [Trump] will destroy records of his presidency before leaving.”
“Presidential records are always at risk because the law that’s supposed to protect them is so weak,” said Tom Blanton, director of the National Security Archive. “The archive, historians and CREW are suing to put some backbone in the law and prevent any bonfire of records in the Rose Garden.”
According to Reuters, Trump has been the subject of numerous civil lawsuits and criminal investigations throughout his one term.
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This includes a Manhattan district attorney’s probe into payments made to women, made by ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen prior to the 2016 election, to keep them quiet about past sexual encounters with Trump.
In addition, Trump could face federal tax evasion charges after it was reported that he paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017, Reuters reports.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has also been investigating Trump and The Trump Organization for tax fraud.
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