Judge Shreds Trump Demand To Destroy Official Records

During the first term, official documents were reportedly shredded, requiring archivists to tape them back together to comply with the Presidential Records Act. A later approach sought to avoid compliance by claiming the PRA is unconstitutional. An Office of Legal Counsel memo argued the PRA exceeds Congress’s powers and improperly shifts authority toward the legislative branch. Judge John Bates issued an injunction effective May 26, applying to White House staff but not to the president or vice president. The memo’s legal reasoning attempted to override a Supreme Court ruling from 1977 upholding a materially identical statute. The injunction prevents continued reliance on the unconstitutional theory for recordkeeping practices.

"Instead of quietly defying the law, he ordered his advisors to dummy up an opinion saying that, actually, the PRA is unconstitutional. This requires a not inconsiderable amount of chutzpah, since the Supreme Court said almost 50 years ago that it is. And yesterday, Judge John Bates of the US District Court in DC said it again, in a meticulous opinion that opened with quotes from George Orwell and Shakespeare. The injunction takes effect May 26th and covers White House staff, though not the president or vice president which is a gap you could drive a very classified Signal chat through."

"On April Fools' Day, the Office of Legal Counsel published a memo opining that The Presidential Records Act is unconstitutional because it exceeds Congress's enumerated and implied powers and aggrandizes the Legislative Branch at the expense of the constitutional independence and autonomy of the Executive. The memo's author, a 36-year-old right-wing lawyer named T. Elliot Gaiser, was tapped to retcon a legal justification for the White House staff to keep on conducting business via disappearing messaging apps and personal emails."

"This task was somewhat difficult thanks to the Supreme Court, which upheld a materially identical statute in 1977 when Nixon sued the GSA to avoid having to turn over his tapes. But, as a former clerk for Justice Alito, Gaiser was up to the job. He simply declared that the Supreme Court was wrong, and mistaken, and failed to appreciate the Article II consequences of its own ruling. He also made a tortured argument about Trump v. Mazars, the 2020 Supreme Court decision involving congressi"

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