On Monday, news site Axios published two photos showing some documents Donald Trump allegedly tore up and dumped in the toilet during his tenure as president. The photos are included in a forthcoming book by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, one of the most well-known and respected White House correspondents. There is no confirmation that these documents were actually torn by Trump, but the handwriting does look like the former President’s.
🚽FIRST on @axios: Trump’s telltale toilet…@maggieNYTreceived these photos ahead of the October 4 release of her book, Confidence Man
Source says her picture shows a White House dresser on the left
The image on the right is from a Trump overseas trip https://t.co/6opWty4kjd– Mike Allen (@mikeallen) August 8, 2022
The photos confirm what has been revealed by several Haberman White House staffers in recent months that Trump has repeatedly thrown various types of documents down the toilet and clogged the pipes during his tenure. This would include official documents that the American president is required by law to keep and deliver to the National Archives, the US government agency responsible for storing the most important government documents, at the end of his term of office. The same agency confirmed in January that Trump had torn up some official documents, which were then being reassembled by some of his collaborators.
At the end of his term, Trump would also have removed several official documents from the White House without returning them to the National Archives. According to the Agency, among these documents there could also be “classified” documents, that is, confidential and subject to a non-disclosure obligation, which absolutely must not be disclosed. Because of this, the FBI conducted a search of Trump’s Florida home on Tuesday to verify the presence or absence of such documents.