Trump Administration Declares Itself Above Presidential Records Law -- Historians Sue

The Trump administration just declared that a law passed by Congress doesn't apply to the president. Now historians are fighting back.

The American Historical Association and the watchdog group American Oversight filed suit Monday against the administration's attempt to nullify the Presidential Records Act -- the post-Watergate law that requires presidents to turn over official records to the National Archives when they leave office.

Last week, the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel issued an advisory opinion stating that Trump "need not further comply" with the decades-old statute. In other words: the president can keep whatever records he wants, and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

The lawsuit, filed in Washington D.C. District Court, calls the move what it is -- a power grab that "violates the separation of powers twice over." The complaint argues that the administration is both nullifying a law enacted by Congress and contradicting Supreme Court precedent in the process.

"This case is about the preservation of records that document our nation's history, and whether the American people are able to access and learn from that history," the suit states.

The Presidential Records Act was passed in the wake of Watergate, when the nation learned the hard way what happens when presidents operate in secret and destroy evidence. The law established that official presidential records -- emails, phone logs, memos, and other materials created by White House staff in the course of their duties -- belong to the public, not the president. The National Archives maintains these records so historians, journalists, and citizens can hold power accountable.

Trump has a history with this law, and it's not a good one. After his first term, he was accused of violating the Presidential Records Act by hoarding boxes of sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago and actively obstructing government efforts to retrieve them. That led to an indictment for retaining classified information and obstruction of justice -- charges that were dismissed only after Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that special counsel Jack Smith's appointment was improper.

Now, instead of complying with the law like every other president since Jimmy Carter, Trump's Justice Department has simply declared the law doesn't apply to him.

The American Historical Association represents more than 10,000 historians. American Oversight is a nonprofit that uses public records laws to expose government corruption. Together, they're asking a federal judge to declare the Presidential Records Act constitutional and to block Trump from using the DOJ opinion as justification for keeping public records.

Their complaint makes clear what's at stake: "the preservation of records that document our nation's history, before it is forever lost."

This isn't about partisan politics. It's about whether a president can unilaterally decide that laws passed by Congress don't apply to him. It's about whether the American people have a right to know what their government does in their name. And it's about whether we'll have a historical record of this presidency at all -- or whether Trump will be allowed to erase whatever he wants before anyone can see it.

The Presidential Records Act exists because Richard Nixon tried to destroy the evidence of his crimes. Now Trump is arguing he has the right to do the same thing. The only difference is that Nixon resigned in disgrace. Trump is trying to change the law from the Oval Office.