Trump Can Destroy Records Without Judicial Review

[HAB911]

Justice Department Tells Court

Deleted tweets? Purges of phone records? The erasing of secretly recorded conversations? The Trump Administration tells a D.C. judge that courts can't review compliance with preservation laws.

It's a question that pops up pretty much every time that Donald Trump deletes a tweet: Is he violating the Presidential Records Act?

In a court filing Friday, not only do attorneys at the Justice Department say that courts can't review this, but they also argue that when it comes to laws pertaining to government record-keeping, judicial review would be inappropriate even if Trump deleted secret recordings with administration officials or even if his staff purged phone records because they expected to be subpoenaed in connection with various investigations.

The arguments come in response to a lawsuit from the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, D.C.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/donald-trump-can-destroy-records-judicial-review-justice-department-tells-court-1046929

[Iliyah]

1. That doesn't sound right.

[Yonnie3]

2. Let's hope the judge agrees with you. n/t

[gratuitous]

3. That's up to the court, not the AG

We'll see how this argument flies. I can imagine the calm, rational manner in which such a legal argument under, say, the Obama administration would have been greeted by our friends at Fox.