The former american president Donald Trump (2017-2021) was wrongfully taken from the White House various boxes with documents and other items, included north korean leader letters Kim Jong-un, The Washington Post reports on Monday.
The US National Archives and Records Administration recovered those boxes in January who were at Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, three sources familiar with what happened told the newspaper.
When they leave power US presidents must turn over all letters, notes, emails, and other communications to the National Archives in writing that are related to his official functions as agent, for its conservation.
The fact that Trump took those boxes to Florida raises questions regarding whether he may have violated the Presidential Records Act, which requires the preservation of those documents, although the ability of the National Archives to penalize those who violate the legislation is very limited.
The boxes contained gifts, letters from world leaders and other correspondence, according to Trump advisers who spoke to the Post on condition of anonymity and who denied that the former president acted with malice.
Among the documents were correspondence sent to him by the North Korean leader during the bilateral thaw process, and which Trump once described as “love letters”; as well as a letter left in the Oval Office by his predecessor, Barack Obama (2009-2017).
Taking those boxes has not been the only problem that Trump has posed to the National Archives: the former president often tore official documents into pieces, which were sent to that US agency still in pieces or glued, the Post indicates.
Some of those torn-up and then cellophane-wrapped documents were among those received last month by the House committee investigating the assault on the Capitol in January 2021, according to the newspaper.
Although all recent former presidents have violated the Presidential Records Act in some way, the number of documents Trump took seems unprecedented, according to sources consulted by the newspaper.
The law contemplates penalties of up to three years in prison for those who act maliciously when hiding or destroying documents, but proving that is difficult and the experts consulted by the Post see it as very unlikely that there will be consequences for Trump.
