Gaps in records of Trump’s presidency

There’s growing concern among historians and political analysts that missing documents will leave a hole in the record of President Donald Trump’s term, one of America’s most tumultuous presidencies. Trump has been cavalier about the law requiring that records be preserved. White House staffers say he has a habit of ripping up documents before tossing them out, forcing them to spend hours taping them back together. … Top executive branch officials had to be reminded more than once not to conduct official business on private email or text messaging systems and to preserve it if they did. … “Historians are likely to suffer from far more holes than has been the norm,” said Richard Immerman at the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. In the Trump White House, “not only has record-keeping not been a priority, but we have multiple examples of it seeking to conceal or destroy that record.” … Lack of a complete record might also hinder any ongoing investigations of Trump, from his impeachment trial and other prospective federal inquiries to investigations in the state of New York.   Read more: 7 News Australia, 17 January, 2021