Donald Trump caught hiding crucial records from National Archives at Mar-a-Lago
Since the Supreme Court instructed the National Archives to turn over Donald Trump’s presidential records to the January 6th Committee, various stories have surfaced about how Trump handled such records improperly and suspiciously. He ripped up some records by hand. Others reportedly went into burn bags. Now things have taken a far uglier turn.
Last month the National Archives caught Trump hiding presidential records at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, according to a new report from the Washington Post. We say “caught” because these records included things like his communications with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. So it’s not as if Trump just happened to walk out the door with some important records about what he once ordered for lunch. He took arguably some of the most crucial documents of his presidency and stashed them on private property where he thought no one would ever be able to access them.
In a reminder of just how inept Trump tends to be at these things, the National Archives ended up figuring out what was missing and demanded that Trump turn it over, which he then did.
It’s not clear if any of the records stashed at Mar-a-Lago were among the ones requested by the January 6th Committee. But it all adds up to bad faith intent on Donald Trump’s part. He improperly shredded records. He improperly stashed records on private property. It’s obvious that he was attempting to keep the nation from ever knowing what all he was really up to while he occupied the White House. This could help the committee make its overall case if and when it refers Trump for criminal prosecution for obstruction.
