You should probably read the NARA & National Archivist Feb 18, 2022 responsive letters to Congress. Not 1 but 3 letters…

After a 79+ hour work week, here I am on a Friday night, The NARA published their responsive letter at 3:09PM today but I literally just walked in the door from my job but I suppose we should talk…

Assuming arguendo that you’ve previously read this February 11, 2022 article —where I walked you through the “toothless” Presidential Records Act and Federal Records Act…” -if not —well here’s your ICYMI gentle reminder. The Article below was a pretty deep dive into the PRA & FRA —Clearly I need to find a better way of decompressing from an utterly insane work week. I guess the silver lining is I didn’t make any first years cry this week. I have to keep reminding myself that President’s Day is just around the corner. Which means my marathon work load that starts in earnest right after Thanksgiving and concludes a few weeks after President’s Day —that there’s light at the end of this dark and vacuous tunnel of;

“…I heard you made a mess of things, the cleaning crew is here .. let’s get to cleaning because YOU jacked up the pristine language with your bullshart pre-filing gambit …and now it’s time to face the music”

Siri what is the PRA and FRA…

No really I would strongly recommend you (re)read this previously published article. I lost track of how many hours of research that article required… and by reading it, I promise you, that it will help you understand the NARA’s February 18, 2022 responsive letter, to the House OverSight Committee’s February 9, 2022 letter …which was embedded at the last part of the article below

Presidential Records Act is toothless. Trump used burn bags, scotch-tape. Absconded to “his safe place” with 15+ boxes, gifts from Foreign leaders, in tow PRA & FRA be damned

For the umpteenth time there was NO RAID at Mar-a-Largo…

This now marks the third time the NARA has stated that staff had been in constant contact with former president Trump team and that resulted in the NARA’s recent recovery of 15 boxes of documents. To be fair (I’m not looking to argue because I actually know how some of DC works) and I highly doubt that Trump personally put those boxes into the moving Truck. This is me telling you that you should remain skeptical of those who are “espousing” a ridiculous narrative that Trump put those boxes into the moving truck.

Come on have you seen the man? He’s flat out obese and his incredibly lazy. I’d sooner be a 6’ Swedish super model before believing Trump was personally involved in taking those boxes down to Mar-A-Largo. I would now like to draw your attention to page 1, items 1 & 2 of the NARA February 18, 2022 letter

This isn’t supposition on my part, this is directly from the National Archivist and I do not understand how so many mainstream media outlets got this so wrong. Based on previous NARA Statement, one previous responsive letter and today’s responsive letter (apologies for yelling) again — THERE. WAS. NO. Mar-A-Largo raid… period. Full Stop.

That’s not my opinion, those are the facts. Which have thrice been confirmed by the NARA and National Archivist. Again I have no idea why so many mainstream media outlets got this fact so wrong… now let’s quickly dissect the National Archivist responsive letter to the House OverSight Committee ← whispers;

…;the NARA sent not one, but THREE letters to Congress (both House and Senate respective committees) earlier today (phew I published this with 29 minutes to spare before it’s February 19, 2022)…

1. Did NARA ask the representatives of former President Trump about missing records prior to the 15 boxes being identified? If so, what information was provided in response?

• Answer: NARA had ongoing communications with the representatives of former President Trump throughout 2021, which resulted in the transfer of 15 boxes to NARA in January 2022.

Moving on to item # 3 (also on page 1) -previously the House OverSight Committee asked the NARA about the content of each box, what policy/procedures the NARA established to account for a full inventory of the contents of each box and a timetable - notice the response -specifically; “made in accordance with section 2205(2)(C) of the PRA.” Hence why I’d previously encourage you to read the previous article, I walked you through the plain text of the PRA…

NARA staff are in the process of inventorying the contents of the boxes, which we expect to complete by February 25… the records in the boxes are subject to the Presidential Records Act (PRA), any request for information regarding the content of the records will need to be made in accordance with section 2205(2)(C) of the PRA.

…Classified Documents mishandled…

Moving on to page 2, items 4, 5 and 6 —the NARA February 18, 2022 actually affirms previous public reporting —that yes of course Trump and/or his staff may have violated the PRA & FRA but as I previously explained, in painstaking detail —there was only one, yes ONE criminal case I could find that had PRA implications but in the end Sandy Berger was charged with mishandling classified documents (see Scribd for Criminal Information also see 2005 Factual Proffer —I walked you though the Sandy Berger Case. Where I specifically pointed out Berber’s destruction of PRA documents (after the Clinton Administration turned records over to the NARA

… 4. Are the contents of the boxes of records recovered by NARA undergoing a review to determine if they contain classified information? If so, who is conducting that review and has any classified information been found?

• Answer: NARA has identified items marked as classified national security information within the boxes.

…some White House staff conducted official business using non-official electronic messaging accounts…

Answer: NARA has identified certain social media records that were not captured and preserved by the Trump Administration. NARA has also learned that some White House staff conducted official business using non-official electronic messaging accounts that were not copied or forwarded into their official electronic messaging accounts, as required by section 2209 of the PRA. NARA has already obtained or is in the process of obtaining some of those records.

And lastly items 7 and 8 of the NARA February 18, 2022 responsive letter to the House OverSight Committee. This is extraordinary important, please pay very close attention… the House OverSight Committee asked NARA about the destruction of PRA documents by Trump (personally not by his staffers) and if NARA had contacted the Department of Justice. The subtext here is those classified documents might (operative word) have serious National Security implications. Again emphasis on “might have” versus “does have” there’s a nuanced distinction, you get that right?

…in June 2018 ¹, NARA learned from a press report in Politico that textual Presidential records were being torn up by former President Trump and that White House staff were attempting to tape them back together. NARA sent a letter to the Deputy Counsel to the President asking for information about the extent of the problem and how it is being addressed. The White House Counsel’s Office indicated that they would address the matter. After the end of the Trump Administration, NARA learned that additional paper records that had been torn up by former President Trump were included in the records transferred to us. Although White House staff during the Trump Administration recovered and taped together some of the torn-up records…

…a number of other torn-up records that were transferred had not been reconstructed by the White House…

Again you can read the NARA February 18, 2022 responsive letter to the House Oversight Committee but I genuinely wished the mainstream media would help their readers/viewers understand that it was not one letter -the NARA issued a total of THREE responsive letters

• Feb 18, 2022 Archivist response to House Committee on Oversight and Reform regarding recovery of Trump PRA records

  • NARA letter to Stefan Passantino, Deputy Counsel to the President regarding  destruction of records, June 14, 2018

• Feb 18, 2022 Archivist's letter to House Committee on Oversight and Reform regarding Trump social media records

• Feb 18, 2022 Archivist's letter to Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs regarding Trump social media records

…House Oversight & Senate Committee on Homeland Security…

..regarding Trump social media records…in short the Trump Administration DGAF about the PRA and FRA and now there’s a pretty sizable record/documentation hole. None of this should surprise you, if it does where have you been for the last five+ years?

And when I say this letter is bad, it really is because the National Archivist (thankfully) is being incredibly transparent and that’s a refreshing change. In short the NARA responsive letter to Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs… not only did Trump not re-enroll. This is absolutely offensive and stunning —I think it’s a safe assumption to say the Trump Administration was the most corrupt and lawless in our Country’s history… no really read the National Archivist detailed explanation concerning both Donald J Trump, White House Staffers and more broadly the Trump Administration…

In March 2017, NARA advised the Trump Administration that it should capture and preserve as Presidential records all tweets that the President posts in the course of his official duties, whether on his personal @realDonaldTrump account or on the official @POTUS account, including those tweets that were subsequently deleted. As I reported in a March 30, 2017, letter to Senators Claire McCaskill and Tom Carper, NARA was “informed by White House officialsthat they [were], in fact, doing so.”

Here the NARA and National Archivist clearly articulates what many of us assumed and feared; the Trump Administration flagrantly and repeatedly violated the PRA & FRA, with near impunity. It is just confounding how the previous administration was the epitome of lawless maladministration, spurred by Trump who genuinely believes and acts like he is above our laws —specifically regarding presidential records…

Even though there are third party entities, such as Trump Twitter Archive and ProPublica -these entities proactively archived the various tweets even deleted post. The issue here, is the National Archivist is barred from using a third party for the “official” social media captures. And Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube etc were also unable to retrieve posts/data after the NARA submitted assistance in retrieving post/records pursuant to the PRA & FRA. The net result meaning there are significant “holes” in the Trump’s Presidential records…

…NARA identified seven Twitter accounts that we think contain presidential record information, but were not captured by the Trump Administration. These accounts belonged to Andrew Giuliani, Chad Gilmartin, Ivanka Trump, Kayleigh McEnany, Kellyanne Conway, Mark Meadows, and Peter Navarro. After the end of the administration, NARA obtained the publicly available tweets from these accounts in order to supplement its archival collection.

Oh to my haters, trolls and stalkers who said I was wrong about the Trump Administration’s use of “SnapChat” I now refer you to page 3, the last two bullet points of the February 18, 202w NARA letter to the Senate Homeland Security Committee… Would you care to debate me on who was wrong (yet again) versus who was right…

In short the National Archivist letters to the House and Senate’s respective committees concerning the Trump Administration, PRA, FRA and social media accounts. Shocker the Trump Administration repeatedly failed to preserve those records.. Again I clearly need to find a better way to spend my Friday Nights, particularly after working almost 80 hours this week

Your bonus saltwater therapy -

likely one of the most vibrant sunsets I filmed on the Sound. Also just a heads up, I’m likely taking the weekend off. So please don’t freak out if I go MIA for the weekend. True Story my spouse arranged to propose to me at the DC Chili Bowl Fest when Better Than Ezra (BTE)was one of the headline bands. Obviously I’m a long time BTE fan and I’ve had the luxury of seeing them multiple times in NoLa’s House of Blues…

file411_dc

A post shared by File411 (@file411_dc)

And lastly; I have a ton of research I’m currently doing for a follow up Mazars, Trump and New York Attorney General article but I’m having difficulty securing the Deutsche Bank & Laddef Cap mortgage/loan documents. I had previously published a deep dive on those documents in 2017, 2019 thru 2021 but I think those documents are on one of my back up drives. At any rate have a great weekend and you might hear from me —provided I can locate my previous DB files…

-Filey a very tired Filey

1. In the previously published February 11, 2022 Substack Article: Presidential Records Act is toothless. Trump used burn bags, scotch-tape. Absconded to “his safe place” with 15+ boxes, gifts from Foreign leaders, in tow PRA & FRA be damned I purposefully included the various NARA circa 2018-thru 2020 letters in that article