Thread by @JasonLeopold

For a good chunk of Trump's presidency, there was a flurry of correspondence between the White House & NARA about the preservation of presidential records & adherence to the PRA & WH counsel circulated memos about following the law

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In March 2017, Sens McCaskill & Carper wrote to Archivist David Ferriero asking whether NARA was aware of any efforts to skirt the PRA. Ferriero responded that his staff provided a briefing to Trump WH staffers on the PRA.

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archives.gov/files/press/pr…

In October 2017, Stefan Passantino circulated a PRA compliance reminder around the WH and he noted: "Failure to abide by these requirements may lead to administrative penalties. The willful destruction or concealment of federal records is a federal crime."

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Then stories started circulating in 2018 that Trump was destroying presidential records by tearing them up. That prompted another discussion with NARA officials.

Via my #FOIA

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Earlier this year, Archivist David Ferriero responded to several congressional inquiries about the Trump White House's records preservation efforts during Trump's tenure and steps NARA took since January 20, 2021 to recover records not turned over.

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In another letter, this one sent to a House and Senate Committee earlier this year, Archivist Ferriero described the extent of the Trump White House failed record preservation efforts related to capturing social media content

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That letter Ferriero sent to the House and Senate oversight committees was required under the PRA when all presidential records are not captured by an administration and not turned over to NARA. In this case, the records in question were social media records.

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Ferriero added that while NARA took legal custody of the Trump WH presidential records on Jan 20, 2021, "it is not uncommon for there to be a delay before NARA takes physical custody of all of the records..."

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NARA had made clear that it could only provide "guidance" on Presidential Records Act compliance to an incumbent administration

This is an exchange from 2017. Via my #FOIA

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Did the back & forth between NARA & WH during Trump's 4 years as POTUS about preserving presidential records foreshadow what took place at MAL this week? I'm not sure.

But l/w, CRS released a 2 page memo on the PRA & noted Congress may want to further address the issue

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Here's the full CRS note on the PRA

Importantly, it states: "The PRA does not provide a deadline for the physical transfer of records materials, although it does provide for a transfer of legal responsibility for materials to the Archivist in 44 U.S.C. §2203."

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