Donald Trump Is Hiding His January 6 Records to Avoid ‘Prison Time,’ Says Former National Archivist
With The National Archives is now at the center of a historic war of records between current and former presidents, both of whom have run the agency condemning Trump administration officials for trying keep documents confidential.
Don W. Wilson and John W. Carlin each served for a long time as the official archivists of the United States, overseeing the massive effort of sorting through presidential profile tell the story of the country.
And they lost their spirits first President Donald Trump’s Aggressive Efforts to keep his White House records locked out special congressional committee investigate January 6 uprising—And his potential role in it.
“Given how crazy they are… there are things on that record that would be really troublesome. I’m talking about my time in prison,” Carlin musedly told The Daily Beast. “It reinforces the fact that they know they’re in real trouble if these things get released — especially if they’re released early.”
A outgoing president’s White House records are sent directly to the National Archives and Records Administration, where they can be kept private from the public for up to 12 years. However, President Joe Biden relinquished that presidential privilege when he authorized the House bipartisan Committee on January 6 to request certain documents about The Last Weeks of Trump in the office. Trump sued to block that and his outlandish claims of “remaining” executive privilege were struck down by a federal judge, who noted “The president is not the king“And an appellate panel found his argument had”unfounded. This epic battle over the records is now to the Supreme Court.
Those records could show whether the Trump White House Conspiracy to use the Ministry of Justice to intimidate states into rejecting the 2020 election results, Conspiracy with rogue Republicans in Congress to prevent certification of Electoral College votes reflecting Biden’s victory in the polls, and interact with the organizers of the meeting who brought the crowd violent attack on the US Capitol building.
“Maybe he thought he was protected somehow. It would be like writing a letter as a government official, then saying, ‘I wrote that on paper that I bought and paid for, not federal paper.’ Nonsense!”
“It is important that records are used to bring out the truth. Nothing highlights that more than the controversy we’re going through. Records will have a huge impact in determining who did what, especially when you get to the Department of Justice,” Carlin said.
Carlin compares Trump’s caution to his secrecy Richard Nixon, who resigned in 1974 instead turning over White House tapes documenting his crooked tactics. For perspective, Carlin points to his decade at the archives from 1995 to 2005, when he fought the Nixon family for control of the records.
“Nixon knew the tapes would kill him, and so he obviously fought and said they weren’t tapes. Carlin, a former governor who now teaches at Kansas State University.
That war also took place in the case of former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, who turned over 9,000 pages of documents to the congressional committee but kept some contact information. Meadows was criticized when he asserted that some of his text messages and emails were protected from disclosure because of “presidential privilege”, even though they were on his personal cell phone and two personal accounts. his personal Gmail account.
Wilson, another former national archives officer, told The Daily Beast that keeping official documents on a personal device is a clear violation of the Presidential Records Act.
“It reinforces the fact that they know they’re in real trouble if these things get released — especially if they’re released early.”
“You are not allowed to conduct personal work on your mobile phone. If true, then it’s an official record. Is this an official business? If that’s the case, then it’s technically a presidential profile, even if it’s on your personal cell phone,” Wilson said. “All of that has to be delivered at the end of the management process.”
And this is an issue that Wilson knows well. He served as the nation’s archivist from 1987 until 1993, the first time the agency handled email and other electronic messages.
Carlin concurs, saying that Meadows must realize White House operations are official business no matter where it is recorded.
“Perhaps he thought he was somehow protected. It would be like writing a letter as a government official, then saying, ‘I wrote that on paper that I bought and paid for, not federal paper.’ Bullshit!” he said. “If that’s allowed, you can have crooks in your regulator and say, ‘Make sure you do all this on your own. Do not use any government typewriters.’”
It’s been two weeks since the House of Representatives voted Meadows “contempt of Congress” and recommended that the Justice Department prosecute him, although criminal charges have yet to be filed. His cell phone activity appeared to be at the heart of this storm, as he was quietly turning over evidence until he discovered that the commission had subpoenaed Verizon for phone records. his old — at that time he was crying and sue the commission.
Another battle over presidential records could come from former Vice President Mike Pence. In the book Treachery of reporters Jon Karl, ABC News’ Washington correspondent details how an official White House photographer captured images of Pence hidden for hours in the bowels of the Capitol while it was under attack. During a guest appearance above The Late ShowKarl told host Stephen Colbert, “They refused to let me publish the photos. But I have a doubt that the January 6 Committee will want to see those photos.”
“And that’s not a picture of him,” Colbert replied. “We paid for those photos. It’s part of the national archives”.
Wilson and Carlin concur.
“There is no question about that. The vice president, upon leaving office, is not allowed to say, “They can’t see this.” They are creating profiles and they are all permanent. And they belong to the United States of America,” Carlin told The Daily Beast.
“I am really pleased to see the special committee and the archival role in the midst of this. It draws attention to presidential records and their importance — not just to current events but to the future of the country,” Wilson said. “The archive is not just an archive. It preserves our national history. “
The Daily Beast has filed a public records request with the National Archives to find Pence’s photographs — if they have been turned over — and related documents. But the agency said the photo collection is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act until 2026.
