Former President Donald Trump would rip up documents and throw them on the floor after reading them, a former White House valet told the January 6 House committee.

His testimony points to possible document destruction by Trump when he was still president. It is illegal under the Presidential Records Act for a president to destroy official records as the form part of the national archive. Trump is already awaiting trial on charges of hoarding presidential documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

In newly released and heavily redacted testimony, the employee told the committee on June 10, 2022, that Trump habitually destroyed documents after reading them. When a committee member asked: “Do you remember the president ever tearing up or destroying documents that he had seen?” the employee replied: “That’s typically what he would do once he’s finished with a document. He would tear everything, tear newspapers, tear photos.”

He added: “He liked to look at pictures and he would just tear it once he’s done looking at it and just throw it on the floor.”

  • @TechNerdWizard42
    link
    1028 months ago

    This was in the news at the time. Nobody seemed to care. Additionally 2 full time staffers were hired to tape back the papers for the archives at a cost of a few hundred thousand per year. Again, nobody cared.

    • @ZMonster
      link
      218 months ago

      The article keeps referring to Jan 6, 2001. But you’re right again, nobody cared.

      • @MeekerThanBeaker
        link
        208 months ago

        People cared. I cared. But what is there to do? Protest? Write a letter to our senator?

      • Goku
        link
        18 months ago

        Yeah, I remember listening to an episode of the Daily, and he would definitely eat his notes.