Donald Trump Seems Severely Misinformed About Presidential Records Act

Donald Trump seems to think that the Presidential Records Act of 1978 protects his right to take documents from the White House to his home in Mar-a-Lago, and that any legal consequences are a violation of his rights under that law. This doesn’t exactly match more rational and informed interpretations of the law.

Trump has been ranting about the Presidential Records Act, claiming that it’s a shield against an investigation, and grants him the right to do “what I want to do.” Here he is, explaining that view, on The Great America Show.

Trump claims storing classified documents at Mar-a-Lago is covered under the Presidential Records Act. pic.twitter.com/9Kmmp6BM8u — PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) August 27, 2022

“The Presidential Records Act is guiding this, and if you look at it, I have every right to do what I want to do, and we can negotiate that. There’s no time limit that I know of. We can negotiate, we can do what we want to do, but they are not using the Presidential Records Act…The Presidential Records Act is the guide, and if you look at the Presidential Records Act, it’s all about exactly what it says. It’s Presidential Records. And you look at what it says, there’s no retribution. You negotiate with them.”

He said something similar on Truth Social:

“The political Hacks and Thugs had no right under the Presidential Records Act to storm Mar-a-Lago and steal everything in sight, including Passports and privileged documents. They even broke into my safe with a safecracker – Can you believe? This Act was created for a very good reason, and it works. We are right now living in a Lawless Country, that just so happens to be, also, a Failing Nation!” See Also



However, Trump’s interpretation of the law, or the explanation he’s been given, doesn’t jibe at all with the explanation of the law at the National Archives. You can read the entire thing here, but below are some relevant excerpts:

Specifically, the PRA:

…

Places the responsibility for the custody and management of incumbent Presidential records with the President.

…

Allows the incumbent President to dispose of records that no longer have administrative, historical, informational, or evidentiary value, once the views of the Archivist of the United States on the proposed disposal have been obtained in writing.

…

Establishes that Presidential records automatically transfer into the legal custody of the Archivist as soon as the President leaves office.

…

Prevents an individual who has been convicted of a crime related to the review, retention, removal, or destruction of records from being given access to any original records.

The segments above cover the fact that these rights are granted to an incumbent president — not a former president. They establish clearly that upon leaving office, the records “automatically transfer into the legal custody of the archivist.” They note that even when an incumbent president seeks to exercise his powers to dispose of records, he still needs to seek the opinion of the archivist. They also show that the law took into consideration the possibility of needing to block an individual’s access as a result of criminal activity with regard to records.

What the law does not say is that Donald Trump is above the law, that Donald Trump retains presidential powers after leaving office, or that it is a violation of Donald Trump’s rights if he’s investigated for allegedly stealing such documents and keeping them illegally after leaving office.