Former President Donald Trump is under suspicion of violating federal law by allegedly mishandling documents that the White House was required to keep safe for preservation.
A weekend report by The Washington Post claimed White House documents ranging from schedules to sensitive memos were regularly ripped into quarters and tossed into trash bins or “burn bags” for incineration at the Pentagon.
The practice reportedly led to aides being forced to sift through the contents to determine which needed to be preserved under the Presidential Records Act, which requires the White House to maintain all documents touched by the president for preservation by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
New concerns about Mr Trump’s adherence to the Presidential Records Act emerged early Monday as another Post report revealed NARA visited his Mar-a-Lago residence last month to retrieve multiple boxes that had been improperly removed from the White House.
Advisers to the former president insisted the boxes didn’t contain any sensitive materials but rather mementos and correspondence from other world leaders - including letters from North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
