PUZZLING

National Archives Records Sent to Jan. 6 Committee Arrived Ripped Up by Trump

The National Archives confirmed that some of the 700 documents turned over to the House panel had been “torn up by former President Trump,” potentially illegally.

The National Archives said Monday that some of the Trump administration records turned over to the House select committee probing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol last month had been reconstructed after being “torn up” by the former president. Donald Trump apparently continued to rip up his presidential papers, a habit in potential breach of the Presidential Records Act, well into the final days of his term. To comply with the law, Politico first reported in 2018, aides were forced to painstakingly scotch-tape the records back together. In a statement to The Washington Post, the National Archives confirmed that the trove of Trump White House documents sent to the committee “included paper records that had been torn up by former President Trump.” The archival agency continued that “White House records management officials during the Trump Administration recovered and taped together some of the torn-up records.” More than 700 pages were turned over, but it is not known how many, or which, were shredded by Trump.