House Dems ask federal agencies to preserve Trump administration documents, threaten 3 years in prison for those who don't
Even as President Donald Trump and the closest of his aides refuse to acknowledge the outcome of the 2020 presidential elections that have been called in favor of Joe Biden, the House Democrats have given enough hint that a wave of probes will be launched against the outgoing administration once the Biden presidency kicks off.
In a letter sent to more than 50 agencies, chairs of 21 leading House committees have warned that all documents and texts, even sent on private phones, be preserved.
“This preservation request should be construed as an instruction to preserve all documents, communications and other information, including electronic information and metadata, that is or may be potentially responsive to a congressional inquiry, request, investigation or subpoena that was initiated, continued or otherwise undertaken during the 116th Congress,” said the 173-page letter that was sent out on Tuesday, November 10.
It also included a jail threat. “Any employee who conceals, destroys, or attempts to conceal or destroy a federal record may be subject to fine and imprisonment for up to three years,” said the letter to 53 agencies.
Preserving documents is not something new for the White House. Successive administrations in the seat of power preserve their documents, texts, photos, etc. in a presidential library.
“It is imperative that you remind all employees and officials within your organization of their legal responsibility to take appropriate measures to collect, retain and preserve all documents, communications and other records in accordance with federal law, including the Federal Records Act and related regulations,” the letter read.
“This includes electronic messages involving official business that are sent using both official and personal accounts or devices, including records created using text messages, phone-based message applications, or encryption software.”
But since the Trump era has been a unique one in many respects, the memo sent to 53 agencies gave enough hint that the coming days could see a number of investigations getting launched targeting the outgoing administration by the House Democrats, who witnessed a less-than-satisfying election despite the ambitious move to impeach the president last December.
They could also start re-investigations of past inquiries, the memo suggested. The letter used words like “potentially responsive” and “potentially relevant” as many as five times. The letter also puts former administration staff members and contractors on notice and requests the deleted information to be recovered.
CREW raised similar concerns in recent months
A few months ago, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) wrote to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which looks after records preservation, with anxieties over a potential presidential transition.
“From reports of Trump ripping up documents once he is done with them to meetings with foreign leaders made secret at Trump’s request, there is reason to believe that Trump may ignore the law and destroy government records on a massive scale to prevent the public and congressional overseers from learning about his misconduct and abuses,” CREW said.
It added: “If NARA discovers the Trump administration is failing to adequately and accurately preserve its records, CREW urged NARA to immediately raise the alarm and notify Congress.”