![]() Upon opening the boxes, the agency discovered that 14 of them contained classified documents and information. What followed was a yearlong back-and-forth between the Archives’ legal counsel and Trump’s lawyers that resulted in the voluntary return of 15 boxes of presidential records. The rules of the Presidential Records Act are central to the FBI’s investigation of Trump.Īfter Trump left office, the Archives discovered that records from his White House were missing. “At noon on Inauguration Day, the custody transfers to the archivist. “It is so basic to the whole concept of why the Presidential Records Act was created.” “Everything he writes down is essentially a presidential record. In addition, the law requires that even while in office, the president or any member of that administration must first seek the advice of the archivist before destroying any record, a practice Trump and his aides reportedly ignored throughout his four years in office. The last-Senate confirmed leader was David Ferriero, who stepped down in April after serving 12 years under three presidents. The Archivist of the United States is responsible for running the agency. In addition to its work in Washington, the Archives oversees 13 presidential libraries and 14 regional archives across the country. While the Archives safeguards precious national documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, that’s only the public face of their sprawling collection, which spans 13 billion pages of text and 10 million maps, charts and drawings, as well as tens of millions of photographs, films and other records. It’s a daunting task that has only grown more complex over time. The mission of the National Archives, which was founded by Congress in 1934, sounds straightforward: to be the nation’s record-keeper. It’s there, beyond the Hollywood plotlines, where a crucial component of the federal bureaucracy resides, with dozens of employees acting as the custodians of American history, preserving records that range from the mundane to the monumental.Ī closer look at the National Archives, its history and how it ended up in the middle of a political maelstrom: Those government workers operate out of the public eye, behind the marble façade of the Archives building in downtown Washington. ![]() “I think what Donald Trump did was cross red lines that civil servants had to respond to.” “I don’t think Donald Trump has politicized the National Archives,” said Tim Naftali, the first director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. Yet that’s exactly where the agency finds itself after sending a referral to the FBI stating that 15 boxes recovered from former President Donald Trump’s Florida home in January contained dozens of documents with classified markings. It has long been among the most trafficked tourist destinations in the nation’s capital.īut what the National Archives and Records Administration has never been - until now - is the locus of a criminal investigation of a former president. WASHINGTON (AP) - It was the setting for “National Treasure,” the movie in which Nicolas Cage’s character tries to steal the Declaration of Independence. ![]()
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