Former President Donald Trump on Thursday denied flushing official government documents down the toilet while serving in the White House, according to NBC News.
“Another false story, that I flushed papers and documents down a White House toilet, is categorically false and simply made up by a reporter to get publicity for a largely fictional book,” Trump said in a statement.
The detail, which comes from New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman’s upcoming book, “Confidence Man,” was reported by Axios.
Haberman tweeted: “Here are some reports from the last few years of the book: White House residence staff periodically discovered that papers had clogged a toilet, leading staff to believe that Trump had dumped material he had ripped into pieces”.
The National Archives has said that Trump returned 15 boxes of documents that were improperly removed from the White House. In a statement Monday, the archives said they had “arranged the transportation from the Trump Mar-a-Lago property in Florida to the National Archives of 15 boxes containing presidential records, following discussions with representatives of President Trump in 2021.” .
Trump said Thursday that the files had “openly and voluntarily” arranged for the transfer of the boxes, which he said “contained letters, records, newspapers, magazines and various items.”
“The papers were delivered easily and without conflict and in a very friendly manner, which is different from the accounts that the fake news media puts together,” Trump said. “In fact, it was seen as routine and ‘no big deal.’ In fact, they told me that I had no obligation to give this material based on various legal rulings that have been made over the years.
The Presidential Records Act requires that all presidential records be properly preserved by each administration so that a complete set of records is ultimately transferred to the National Archives.
Earlier this month, the National Archives reported that the former president had torn up some White House documents while in office and had to be re-taped by administration officials.
The National Archives asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Trump’s handling of these official records and assess whether it violated federal law.
The House Oversight Committee announced Thursday that it has launched an investigation into the 15 boxes of Trump’s records that had been recovered by the National Archives, as well as reports that he attempted to destroy presidential records.
In a letter Wednesday to United States Archivist David S. Ferriero, the committee’s chair, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, DN.Y., requested information “to examine the scope and impact” of the apparent violations of presidential records. by Trump.
