Historians having to tape together records that Trump tore up

[Judi Lynn]

Implications for public record and legal proceedings after administration seized or destroyed papers, notes and other information

Staff and agencies
Sat 16 Jan 2021 22.24 EST

The public will not see Donald Trump’s White House records for years, but there is growing concern the collection will never be complete – leaving a hole in the history of one of America’s most tumultuous presidencies.

Trump has been cavalier about the law requiring that records be preserved. He has a habit of ripping up documents before tossing them out, forcing White House workers to spend hours taping them back together.

White House staff quickly learned about Trump’s disregard for documents as they witnessed him tearing them up and discarding them. “My director came up to me and said, ‘You have to tape these together,’” said Solomon Lartey, a former White House records analyst.

The first document he taped back together was a letter from Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, about a government shutdown. “They told [Trump] to stop doing it. He didn’t want to stop.”

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/17/historians-having-to-tape-together-records-that-trump-tore-up

[MyOwnPeace]

1. Gee, one would think

BunkerBoy would want to keep a record of all of his marvelous achievements.....

[StClone]

2. From the very start it was apparent he was unfit and hated responsibility

Tearing up pages of history was one of many unprecedented attacks on recording what went on during those dark days. "Cavalier" is putting mildly. I think it was by design to feed his ego. He saw in his idea of the Presidency the power to disregard all rules, laws, procedures and traditions-because he could as well as being lazy and crazy.

[Midnight Writer]

3. He is a gangster destroying evidence.

[BigmanPigman]

4. Some day in the future, long after I am dead,

people will say, "What were Americans thinking for supporting this traitor (that is one of the nicest things they will say). We will eventually get all the stuff he has destroyed. It will take a lot of different govt departments and lots of lawsuits but we will get the dirt.

[riversedge]

5. Many will learn a lesson for electing a snake to POTUS, BUT many will not learn that lesson