On Thursday, former prosecutor Joyce Vance warned the Trump administration has declared war on public records law through a sweeping “power grab,” on her Substack.
The Office of Legal Counsel, headed by far-right former Samuel Alito clerk T. Elliot Gaiser, issued an opinion claiming the 1978 Presidential Records Act is unconstitutional, concluding the president does not need to comply with its requirements.
Vance notes the Supreme Court upheld an identical law during the Nixon administration nearly 50 years ago, yet Gaiser’s opinion fails to explain why that precedent no longer applies.
Trump previously violated the act by destroying documents and removing classified materials to Mar-a-Lago, which formed part of Jack Smith’s criminal case against him.
Historians have sued to force the administration to disregard the OLC opinion. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, known for upholding executive checks.
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