National Archives Say Trump Took Classified Records After Leaving White House as Ex President's Truth App Set For Release on Monday

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) found classified information in the 15 boxes of White House records stored at former US President Doland Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.

The findings confirmed the issue in a letter that has been sent to the Justice Department. The letter reports Trump's handling of sensitive and classified information during his presidency and when he left the White House.

According to the Associated Press, although Trump may argue that he had the ultimate declassification authority as the president, federal law prohibits the removal of sensitive documents to unauthorized sites.

Trump's lawyers said they continue to look for additional presidential records belonging to the National Archives in response to allegations about his administration's troubled relationship with NARA.

Trump claimed that the National Archives did not discover anything in a statement issued Friday night. Instead, the NARA were given Presidential Records in an ordinary and usual process upon request.

Trump Admin Did Not Preserve Records

The letter from NARA goes into greater detail about how the previous administration failed to capture and preserve certain social media records. The agency also discovered that White House key employees performed official business using unofficial messaging accounts and even personal phones.

NARA also discovered that more paper records were torn up by Trump had been handed over to the agency and "had not been reconstructed by White House."

Lawmakers are also interested in knowing more about the contents of the boxes discovered at Mar-a-Lago, but the agency cited the records act as a barrier to disclosing the information.

NARA also stated that despite previous warnings to Trump officials, some social media records and messaging on apps used by White House staff were not properly kept as official documents.

Those associated with Trump's personal Twitter account, including deleted tweets, are among the missing records mentioned. NARA he Archives had previously expressed concern that Trump's deleted tweets were not being captured and had been notified by White House officers that they were "doing so."

However, per CNN, since the administration's end, NARA has "learned that the White House initially used a manual process to capture deleted tweets from @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS," rather than the recommended automated method. The staff failed to duplicate or forward their official messaging counts, as mandated by the Presidential Records Act.

The law states that presidential records are the property of the United States government, not the president. A statute makes it a crime to conceal or intentionally destroy government records, punishable by up to three years in prison.

Trump Is Making A Social Media Comeback Via Truth App

Donald Trump is set to make a comeback on social media via his upcoming social media venture Truth Social to be launched in Apple's App Store on Monday, the US Presidents Day holiday.

Donald Jr., Trump's eldest son, tweeted a screenshot of his father's Truth Social account, which was uploaded on Valentine's Day with the caption "Get Ready! Your favorite president will see you soon."

Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the venture behind Truth Social, will join a growing portfolio of tech firms positioning themselves as advocates of free speech in the effort to attract users who feel their views are repressed on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. It will be led by a Republican and former US Representative Devin Nunes.

Reuters reported that the launch of the social media app is expected to restore Trump's social media presence more than a year after he was banned from internet giants Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube following a January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters, in which he was accused of inciting violence through his posts.

Truth Social will release a policy on verified accounts in the coming days.

Tags

Donald Trump, Records, Social media