{"id":2164606,"date":"2024-02-01T02:44:02","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T07:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-obamas-secrets-could-save-trump-in-his-mar-a-lago-documents-snafu\/"},"modified":"2024-02-01T02:52:31","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T07:52:31","slug":"how-obamas-secrets-could-save-trump-in-his-mar-a-lago-documents-snafu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-obamas-secrets-could-save-trump-in-his-mar-a-lago-documents-snafu\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama&#8217;s undisclosed information may help Trump in Mar-A-Lago document mishap"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-obamas-secrets-could-save-trump-in-his-mar-a-lago-documents-snafu%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2164606&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Did Obama&#8217;s Executive Action Allow Trump\u2062 to Keep Presidential Records\u200b at Mar-a-Lago?<\/h2>\n<p>A secret Obama-era <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-you-need-to-know-about-trumps-latest-drug-pricing-moves\/\" title=\"What You Need To Know About Trump\u2019s Latest Drug Pricing Moves\">executive action<\/a> may have authorized former President Donald Trump \u2062to keep presidential\u200d records at Mar-a-Lago. My\u2064 organization,\u2062 America First Legal, filed a Freedom of Information Act request last week to find out.<\/p>\n<p>In October \u20632014, Russian hackers breached \u2062the Executive Office of \u2062the President\u2019s (EOP)\u2062 network. Months later, President Barack Obama \u200bcreated, via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-to-announce-new-federal-office-for-gun-violence-prevention\/\" title=\"Biden to unveil new federal office for gun violence prevention.\">executive \u2063action<\/a>, the Presidential \u2064Information \u2062Technology Committee \u200b(PITC),\u2063 purportedly to protect EOP\u200d information by moving systems onto Department of Defense\u2062 (DOD) servers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-921661713\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e216aab1bff310f6d48c4aa9e728f1ff fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e216aab1bff310f6d48c4aa9e728f1ff\"><\/div>\n<p>The\u200b PITC executive order and documents obtained from litigation reveal how President Obama asserted \u2062an aggressive position on \u200bpresidential control \u2062over\u2062 information.\u200b Under PITC,\u200d if the president accessed data, it was presumptively his. America First Legal has argued this aggressive position is constitutional.<\/p>\n<p>Given \u200dno\u200b public evidence that the\u200c PITC order was rescinded, \u200bObama\u2019s position has \u2063legal \u200cconsequences for former President Trump and \u2063his various indictments \u200bconcerning \u200drecords originating from the government. First, \u200cPITC \u2063creates a presumption that the president controls virtually \u200dall of the \u2062data he receives. The\u2063 PITC \u2062memo established the president\u2019s \u2062\u201cexclusive control\u201d over information resources and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ukraine-wont-get-leopard-2-or-m1-abrams-tanks-does-it-matter\/\" title=\"Ukraine Won\u2019t Get Leopard 2 or M1 Abrams Tanks: Does It Matter?\">systems provided<\/a> to him. The memo created the presumption that information contained on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-america-and-the-war-on-poverty\/\" title=\"Biden's America: Tackling Poverty\">information\u200d systems<\/a> and resources was \u201cEOP information.\u201d Because the memo relied \u2062upon the\u200d Federal Records Act\u2019s\u2064 definition of \u201cinformation system\u201d \u200bas resources \u2064organized for\u2063 the \u201cuse\u201d and \u201cdisposition\u201d of \u200b\u201cinformation,\u201d\u200b the \u2064memo purports to give \u200cthe president \u200cexclusive control over the information he receives.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why America First Legal\u2063 is investigating\u2063 PITC \u2014 to determine whether DOD actually retains copies of data\u200d accessed by the president.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Presidential vs. Federal Records<\/h2>\n<p>What Obama established has big \u200cimplications for the use of the federal witness tampering statute \u2063against Trump.\u200d The witness tampering statute\u2019s language places \u2062liability on whoever \u201ccorruptly\u201d \u201calters,\u200d destroys, mutilates, \u200dor\u2064 conceals a record, document, or other object,\u200c or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object\u2019s integrity or \u2063availability for use in an official\u2063 proceeding.\u201d But if PITC still existed for President \u2062Trump, then all of\u2063 the records\u2063 Trump received were presidential records and not \u200bfederal records, and thus arguably the witness\u200d tampering statutes do not apply to records in Trump\u2019s possession.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-05acae837a49fc22f1396f28c8d508ee fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-05acae837a49fc22f1396f28c8d508ee\"><\/div>\n<p>How Obama transformed\u200d records control gets even more surprising. Evidence produced in litigation against the Obama administration reveals how\u2064 in the lead-up \u200bto Obama creating PITC, his White House, in creating \u200canother before-now\u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/it-would-be-an-irreparable-disaster-if-joe-biden-were-designated-president-of-the-united-states-archbishop-carlo-maria-vigano-warns-believers-in-latest-interview\/\" title=\"\u201cIt Would Be an Irreparable Disaster if Joe Biden \u2013 Were Designated President of the United States\u201d \u2013 Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano Warns Believers in Latest Interview with Steve Bannon\">secret agreement<\/a>, \u200crelied on the DOD \u200bto host White House \u200cdata, yet deemed\u2064 this information, despite being\u200b in\u2063 a federal agency\u2019s possession, presidential records. According to a declaration from a \u200bDOD\u200b official,\u200c \u201c[I]n\u200c late 2010, the Army Materiel \u200cCommand (AMC) entered into an \u2063agreement with the \u200cExecutive Office of \u200bthe President (EOP) to\u200b provide certain information and technology support to EOP.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under the agreement, the\u2064 White House directed \u2062that \u201cAMC must \u2018refrain from deleting\u2062 or modifying any EOP data without\u2064 express, written direction from\u200d EOP.\u201d The government\u2064 stated, \u201cAt no time was EOP data integrated into any other Army\u2063 records or files, as the data \u200dremained partitioned off\u2063 exclusively for EOP use.\u201d The 2010 Obama White House \u2062agreement specifically applies the Presidential Records Act to all EOP data on DOD servers.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Second Legal Consequence<\/h2>\n<p>These new facts have \u2062a second major legal consequence. Under a Supreme Court doctrine \u2063known as <em>Brady<\/em>, these secrets about how the Obama White\u2064 House \u2014 \u200band purportedly\u2064 Trump\u2019s White House \u2014 stored and accessed \u2064its data, \u200bto\u2063 the extent relevant to the facts underlying Trump\u2019s various indictments, must be disclosed \u2063to Trump. \u200dIf records at Mar-a-Lago originated\u2063 from the PITC system, then Trump not only\u200c was authorized to \u2064have them but lacked the intent required to \u200ballegedly commit\u200c criminal removal of those records.<\/p>\n<p>The bottom line is that the Department of\u200c Justice had a legal obligation \u200dto determine which, if \u2063any, records \u2064subject to its\u2064 investigation originated from the PITC system and then disclose those facts to the Trump defense team. That clearly\u2063 did not happen.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-34e2820bed2ee5dba4ed674093d60131 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-34e2820bed2ee5dba4ed674093d60131\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other Questions<\/h2>\n<p>This \u2063saga of \u200ba White House that relies on \u200dthe DOD to preserve its\u2063 data\u2063 raises a host of further questions \u2063about government transparency.\u200d What\u2063 did the\u2063 National \u200cArchives have to\u200d say\u2062 about PITC \u200band Obama\u2019s \u200d2010 agreement \u2062with\u2064 the Army? Why was the Archives so quick\u200c to make referrals to\u2062 the Justice\u2062 Department about \u200dTrump\u2019s records yet never questioned Obama controlling record systems hosted by \u200ba government agency \u200d\u2014 the DOD? Why did Congress allow Obama to do this for\u2062 virtually the entirety of\u200b his administration but it now blames Trump for his alleged schemes concerning federal records?<\/p>\n<p>America First Legal is hopeful that uncovering\u200b Obama\u2019s secret records \u200cpolicies may help improve how the government works. And it just might reveal major problems\u2062 in \u2064the government\u2019s\u200d position concerning how Trump treated the records in his \u200cpossession.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-7fb009b7444ccfc39f0ac623ab19a016 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-7fb009b7444ccfc39f0ac623ab19a016\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What potential violations of the Presidential Records Act could have occurred if Obama&#8217;s executive action allowed Trump \u200dto keep \u2062presidential records at \u200cMar-a-Lago?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Trine called the \u201cUnitary Executive Theory,\u201d \u2063the president has exclusive authority and control over the executive branch of government. This theory\u2064 gives\u2064 the president wide discretion\u200d in carrying out their duties, including\u2064 the handling of presidential records. The Supreme Court has \u2062recognized that the president has a constitutional duty to preserve and protect these records.<\/p>\n<p>If Obama&#8217;s executive action allowed Trump to keep presidential records at Mar-a-Lago, it would have potentially violated the Presidential Records Act. This law requires that presidential \u2062records be kept and maintained by the\u2064 National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). It ensures that these\u2064 records \u2064are preserved for \u200dhistorical \u2064and governmental purposes and \u200bare accessible to the public.<\/p>\n<p>The \u200dimplications of this potential violation are significant. If Trump&#8217;s records were not properly preserved and maintained by NARA, it raises questions about transparency and accountability. It also raises \u200bconcerns about the \u2063security and integrity of these records.\u200b Mar-a-Lago, being a private property,\u2063 may not have the\u2064 necessary safeguards and protocols in \u200bplace to \u200cprotect sensitive \u200cpresidential records.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, if Trump&#8217;s records were\u200b considered presidential records and not federal \u200crecords, it\u200b could potentially shield him from legal scrutiny.\u200c The federal witness tampering statute mentioned earlier may not apply to records in Trump&#8217;s possession if they were classified as presidential records. This raises concerns about potential\u200c obstruction of\u2064 justice or tampering with evidence.<\/p>\n<p>America First Legal&#8217;s investigation\u200d into the PITC and the \u200dpotential \u2063retention of data accessed by the president by\u200b the DOD is crucial in\u2062 understanding the extent and implications of\u2062 Obama&#8217;s \u2062executive action. It seeks to bring clarity to the legal status of Trump&#8217;s records\u200c and shed \u200dlight on any potential violations of \u200dthe Presidential Records Act.<\/p>\n<p>In\u200c conclusion, the question\u2062 of whether Obama&#8217;s executive action allowed Trump to keep presidential \u200drecords at Mar-a-Lago is a significant one with far-reaching\u2062 implications. \u200dIt raises concerns\u200c about \u2062transparency, accountability, and the preservation of historical records. America First Legal&#8217;s\u200d Freedom of\u200b Information Act request and investigation into the PITC are\u2063 important steps in uncovering the truth and ensuring the integrity of the presidential records system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Action, a policy allowing former presidents to store their records at non-governmental facilities. This action may have given Trump permission to keep records at Mar-a-Lago. America First Legal has filed a FOIA request to uncover more details. In 2014, Russian hackers infiltrated the EOP network, prompting Obama to establish this policy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2801,"featured_media":2164607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Obama-hands-over-presidency-to-Trump.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2164606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Obama-hands-over-presidency-to-Trump.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2164606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2801"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2164606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2164606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2164607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2164606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2164606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2164606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}