The Trump Administration Is Terrified Of Written Records, So What Are They Hiding?
The Trump administration is terrified of written records and paper trails. They try to operate in secret, which is the opposite of how a government should behave, so what are they hiding?
There have been stories ever since the second Trump administration took office about violations of federal record-keeping laws and a consistent desire to operate in secret.
In April 2026, the Trump Department of Justice issued a memo that declared the Presidential Records Act unconstitutional. The Presidential Records Act requires that all correspondence and records in an administration be preserved for historical purposes.
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The DOJ’s memo was remarkable because the Presidential Records Act is a law, and the Department of Justice does not have the power to invalidate laws.
A group of historians sued the DOJ, and a judge ruled in May 2026, according to The New York Times:
A federal judge ordered the White House on Wednesday to preserve all presidential records including text messages exchanged among its top officials, telling the Trump administration that at least for now it must follow a law it had unilaterally declared unconstitutional.
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“While the presidency is a singularly important institution, that gravity does not free it from modest constraint,” wrote Judge Bates, an appointee of President George W. Bush, adding, “Congress has validly determined that this act helps to maintain that trust by shining some light on the activities of the president and his aides.”
It is one thing for a president who has been convicted of nearly three dozen felonies to not want to leave a paper trail. It is a whole different matter when the Department of the Interior looks like they are trying to cover something up.
