https://theintercept.com/2026/04/09/trump-documents-library-presidential-records-act/ Skip to main content Support Us Support Us [ ] [Search] * Iran * Midterms * Justice * War on Gaza * Unmasking ICE * Chilling Dissent Support Us * Special Investigations * Voices * Podcasts * Press Freedom Defense Fund * Join the Newsletter * About * Contact Us * More Ways to Donate * Impact & Reports * Jobs * Become a Source * * * * * * * * * (c) THE INTERCEPT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Terms of Use Privacy _Voices _Voices Support Us _Voices DOJ Wants to Scrap Watergate-Era Rule That Makes Presidential Records Public Killing the Presidential Records Act would allow private individuals to hold the keys to American history, forever. Share * Copy link * Share on Facebook * Share on Bluesky * Share on X * Share on LinkedIn * Share on WhatsApp [lauren-] Lauren Harper April 9 2026, 6:07 a.m. Share * Copy link * Share on Facebook * Share on Bluesky * Share on X * Share on LinkedIn * Share on WhatsApp In partnership with Freedom of the Press Foundation PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - UNSPECIFIED: In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, stacks of boxes can be observed in a bathroom and shower in The Mar-a-Lago Club's Lake Room at former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been indicted on 37 felony counts in the special counsel's classified documents probe. (Photo by U.S. Department of Justice via Getty Images) In this Justice Department handout photo, stacks of boxes can be observed in a bathroom and shower in the Mar-a-Lago Club's Lake Room at former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. Photo: U.S. Department of Justice via Getty Images [laure] Lauren Harper is Freedom of the Press Foundation's first Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy. President Donald Trump recently threatened genocide as political leverage on social media, which begs the question whether there are even more extreme conversations happening in private in the Oval Office, or if anyone in Trump's orbit is cautioning him against this immoral threat of mass violence. Access to these discussions is critical not only for accountability, but also for future administrations who want to re-engage in rational diplomacy. That's why the Department of Justice's recent opinion that grants Trump, and every president who follows him, a license to steal American history is so dangerous. In a sweeping new memorandum from the Office of Legal Counsel, the DOJ claims the Presidential Records Act is unconstitutional. The department's edict, which is already facing legal challenges, argues that a president's records are private, rather than public, property. This is an extreme reinterpretation of executive power that seeks to undo nearly 50 years of transparency. [GettyImages-1246257141-e1674227780328] Related The Secrets Presidents Keep in Their Garages and Luxury Resorts The PRA was signed into law after the abuses of the Watergate era and established that the records of every president since Ronald Reagan are public property and must be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, at the end of a president's term. This law is the reason the public has insight into the inner workings of everything from President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran and the George W. Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina to records on the nomination of Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh, and other Supreme Court nominees. That's because the PRA states that, starting five years after the end of a presidential administration, those records become subject to public release under the Freedom of Information Act. This history-killer memo attempts to undo this route for public access to presidential records and build a brick wall where there once was a window into the highest office in the land. PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - UNSPECIFIED: In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, stacks of boxes can be observed at former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been indicted on 37 felony counts in the special counsel's classified documents probe. (Photo by U.S. Department of Justice via Getty Images) In this DOJ photo, boxes of records spill over at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump was indicted in 2023 for his handling of classified documents. Photo: U.S. Department of Justice via Getty Images By declaring the PRA unconstitutional, the Justice Department is effectively claiming that the presidency has private ownership over the American story. The timing of this memo adds insult to injury. Just days before its release, Trump's son Eric unveiled renderings of a "Trump Presidential Library" skyscraper in Miami, which appears to be designed primarily to solicit private investment for the president's personal foundation. News outlets parroted this branding, even though there's no indication the Trump foundation will work with NARA to build a proper library. So while there may be a building where the public can go to gaze at a gold statue of Trump, it's not clear there will be a physical place for journalists and others to file declassification requests and research his administration. It's no surprise that a president who spent his first term repeatedly violating the PRA now wants to eviscerate it. But the danger to our democracy cannot be overstated: The president's decisions are the most consequential in government, and the PRA is the only reason we have a front-row seat to them, even belatedly. Most Read Donald Trump holds a press conference at the White House on April 6, 2026 in Washington, D.C. With Trump Threatening Genocide in Iran, Military Must Disobey His Orders, Former Pentagon Officials Say Nick Turse [crop_AP26066753444503-e1775668840734] We Called Out the Pentagon for Undercounting U.S. Casualties in Iran. They Keep Doing It. Nick Turse [Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-12] Grandmother Faces Trial in Alabama for Wearing Penis Costume to No Kings Protest Liliana Segura At Freedom of the Press Foundation, we know what is at stake. We have filed more than a dozen FOIA requests for key records from the first Trump term that are currently held at the digital Trump Presidential Library run by NARA (not to be confused with whatever monstrosity is being built in Florida). These include: * A copy of the Senate's 2014 report on the CIA's torture program, which the Trump administration helped keep secret in 2017. * Records concerning election integrity, voter fraud, the certification of the Electoral College, and the events of January 6, 2021. * Documents about the violent clearing of protesters from Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., on June 1, 2020. * Communications documenting Trump's reaction to the 2019 and 2021 impeachment proceedings. * Memorandums of conversation with foreign leaders, including Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, as well as written correspondence, such as Trump's "love letters" with the North Korean leader. If the DOJ succeeds in claiming presidential records are private, these chapters of our history could vanish, and Trump will be able to do whatever he wishes with these records -- whether that's storing them in his bathroom or selling them to the "highest bidder." We're independent of corporate interests -- and powered by members. Join us. Become a member Join Our Newsletter Thank You For Joining! Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you. Will you take the next step to support our independent journalism by becoming a member of The Intercept? [ ] I'm in Become a member By signing up, I agree to receive emails from The Intercept and to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Join Our Newsletter Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you. I'm in This isn't just a Trump problem; it is a bipartisan emergency. If the Justice Department's memo stands, it won't just be this administration's secrets that are locked away -- it will allow every future president, Democrat or Republican, to operate with total impunity. We cannot let the presidency be transformed into a black box. Democrats and Republicans must work together, in Congress and in the courts, to ensure that no president has free rein to hide their own corruption or claim that American history belongs to them alone. Because if we lose the right to know what the president has done in our name, we lose the ability to call ourselves a democracy. Share * Copy link * Share on Facebook * Share on Bluesky * Share on X * Share on LinkedIn * Share on WhatsApp IT'S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT. What we're seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government. This is not hyperbole. Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation. Yet far too many are still covering Trump's assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as "unconventional," "testing the boundaries," and "aggressively flexing power." The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy. We're independent of corporate interests. Will you help us? ( ) $15 (*) $25 ( ) $50 ( ) $100 ( ) $5 ( ) $8 (*) $10 ( ) $15 ( ) One Time (*) Monthly Donate IT'S BEEN A DEVASTATING year for journalism -- the worst in modern U.S. history. We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government's full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump's project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking. In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow. That's where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026? We're independent of corporate interests. Will you help us? ( ) $15 (*) $25 ( ) $50 ( ) $100 ( ) $5 ( ) $8 (*) $10 ( ) $15 ( ) One Time (*) Monthly Donate [editor-in-] I'M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept's editor-in-chief. It's been a devastating year for journalism -- the worst in modern U.S. history. We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government's full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump's project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking. In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow. That's where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026? We're independent of corporate interests. Will you help us? ( ) $15 (*) $25 ( ) $50 ( ) $100 ( ) $5 ( ) $8 (*) $10 ( ) $15 ( ) One Time (*) Monthly Donate Contact the author: [lauren-] Lauren Harper Related Brendan Carr, commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Grapevine, Texas, US, on Friday, March 27, 2026. The Conservative Political Action Conference launched in 1974 brings together conservative organizations, elected leaders, and activists. Photographer: Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg via Getty Images Trump's FCC Chief Says His Censorship Protects the Little Guy. It Really Serves One Powerful Man. [War_Protests-copy-e1774541362655] Protesting the Smash-and-Grab Presidency With Nikhil Pal Singh TOPSHOT - A protester holds a sign related to the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, November 12, 2025. Democrats released emails Wednesday in which Jeffrey Epstein suggested Donald Trump was aware of the disgraced financier's sexual abuse and had "spent hours" with one of his victims at his house. Trump has denied any knowledge of the sex-trafficking activities of his former friend, who died by suicide in 2019 as he was in prison awaiting trial, and the White House accused Democrats of pushing a "fake narrative" by sharing the mails. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) Epstein Is the Only Thing That Could Turn Trump's Base Against Him President Donald Trump is seen as Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu departs the White House after meeting with President Trump in Washington DC on Monday April 7, 2025. The Clear and Present Danger to the American Rule of Law Latest Stories Military personnel living in temporary facilities on Joint Forces Training Base - Los Alamitos, Calif., seen on July 15, 2025. Trump Administration Wants to Make It More Difficult to Evade a Military Draft Nick Turse - 12:50 pm With automatic Selective Service registration, it would be harder for Americans to dodge a potential military draft. [Iran_Ceasefire] The Intercept Briefing Putting Fuel on a Ceasefire: Israel Tries to Kill U.S.-Iran Talks The Intercept Briefing - 6:00 am "In many ways, what actually has potentially led to this ceasefire is the fact that Iran is able to create a chokehold over 20 percent of the world's oil." MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JANUARY 07: An onlooker holds a sign that reads "Shame" as members of law enforcement work the scene following a suspected shooting by an ICE agent during federal law enforcement operations on January 07, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to federal officials, the agent, "fearing for his life" killed a woman during a confrontation in south Minneapolis. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) Chilling Dissent A Redditor Criticized ICE. Trump Is Trying to Unmask Them by Dragging the Company to a Secret Grand Jury. Ryan Devereaux - 4:00 am An ICE summons to get the user's identity failed. 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