Two groups are suing the Trump administration over the Justice Department’s claim that a federal law requiring the handover of presidential records for public preservation is unconstitutional.
The American Historical Association, the largest membership association of historians, and American Oversight, a government watchdog organization, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia this week seeking to “preserve the historical record that belongs to the American people.”
“The White House does not get to decide what is preserved, what is hidden, or what is destroyed,” Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, said in a statement. “The law sets an independent process, followed by every administration for nearly half a century, to safeguard public access. If that framework is cast aside, it puts critical records at risk of being controlled, concealed or even destroyed before the public ever has a chance to see them.”
A memorandum opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel says a president’s records are private property, so the president does not need to preserve certain documents and turn them over to the National Archives upon leaving the White House.
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The Presidential Records Act, whose creation was prompted by the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, “exceeds” Congress’ power and “aggrandizes” the legislative branch at the “expense of the constitutional independence and autonomy” of the executive branch, the Justice Department asserted.
Because of this, President Trump “need not further comply” with the law. His administration is the first to challenge the constitutionality of the law.
The PRA, enacted four years after former President Richard M. Nixon’s resignation, established that official presidential records become public, rather than private, property. When a president leaves office, everything from emails and phone records to other materials created by White House staff during their official duties must be turned over to the National Archives.
Mr. Trump was accused of violating the law by storing sensitive government records at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left his first term in office in 2021. The president denied any wrongdoing, instead stating that he was allowed to keep the material under the law.
He was indicted for allegedly thwarting the government’s efforts to retrieve them, but the case was dismissed due to concerns about the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith, who pursued the case. The case eventually ended after Mr. Trump won a second term in the White House.
The classified documents Mr. Trump stored in boxes included information regarding U.S. and foreign countries’ defense and weapons capabilities, U.S. nuclear programs and potential vulnerabilities of the U.S., the indictment stated.
