Trump staffers were more focused on securing big pictures from White House walls than properly sorting government documents, report says
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- Many Trump staffers focused on getting photos from White House walls when his term ended, per Politico.
- They prioritized it over properly sorting and storing his documents, the report said.
- Trump is currently being investigated for how he handled documents after his presidency.
Staffers for former President Donald Trump were more focused on getting pictures from the White House walls than on storing documents in line with the rules and procedures that come with the end of a presidency, Politico reported.
Politico's report, based on interviews with former Trump aides and officials, said many staffers wanted to secure "jumbos" — the big pictures on the walls of the West Wing — at the end of the Trump presidency.
They prioritized this over sorting and storing documents, the report said.
Staffers were also less motivated to properly deal with documents because so many staff members left at the end of the presidency, leaving a smaller number of workers behind, the report said.
And the staff that remained were "bitter and exhausted," Politico reported, with many believing Trump's baseless claim that he was the real winner of the 2020 presidential election but that it was stolen with him.
A former official also told Politico that Trump staff may have put non-classified material into "burn bags" that were designed for classified material that was supposed to be destroyed.
Sources who saw this happen told Politico that this could have included material that was supposed to be given to the National Archives, rather than be destroyed.
Trump is currently in trouble over what happened to White House documents when his presidency ended.
The FBI raided his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate on August 8, and unsealed court documents showed the search was part of an investigation into whether Trump had violated three laws, including the Espionage Act, dictating the treatment of government documents.
FBI agents seized about 20 boxes of items, which included documents marked as top secret or sensitive.
Trump developed a reputation for not properly dealing with documents during his presidency.
Trump reportedly repeatedly ripped up papers, and has been accused of trying to flush them down the toilet — a claim he denies. Some of Trump's former staff members also said he tended to ask to keep certain documents.
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