唐纳德·特朗普司法部法律顾问办公室本周在一份意见中得出结论，奥巴马不需要向国家档案馆移交他的总统记录。
助理司法部长T. Elliot Gaiser拒绝了水门事件后制定的一项长达几十年的确保保存总统记录的法律，称《总统记录法》违宪，“与任何有效和可识别的立法目的脱节”。
“PRA超越了监督权，因为它没有明确有效的立法目的。它超越了任何保存权力，因为国会不能仅仅为了子孙后代而保存总统记录，”这份52页的意见书说。
在特朗普首次展示他的规划中的总统图书馆如果被特朗普政府采纳，这一意见可能会颠覆确保总统记录公共所有权的既定程序。在他的第一个任期结束后，特朗普被指控违反《总统记录法》，在他的Mar-a-Lago庄园储存了几箱敏感的总统记录。
他被指控涉嫌保留机密信息和妨碍司法公正，尽管该案因美国地方法官艾琳·坎农对特别顾问杰克·史密斯的任命表示担忧而被驳回。
特朗普的第二个任期还剩三年，他的司法部现在表示，总统“不需要进一步遵守”管理总统记录移交的法律。
DOJ法律顾问办公室的任务是为行政部门提供法律建议，但特朗普政府如果试图实施这项政策，可能会面临法律挑战。
水门事件后起草的《总统记录法案》于1978年通过，将总统记录的合法所有权从私人变为公共。自罗纳德·里根(Ronald Reagan)以来的每一位总统都受到该法律的约束，该法律规定，一旦总统离任，国家档案和记录管理局(National Archives and Records Administration)将控制官方记录，如电子邮件、电话记录和总统及其工作人员在履行职责过程中创建的其他文件材料。
根据PRA，前总统最多有12年的时间交出他们所有的总统记录。
然而，盖瑟的意见声称该法违宪，因为它“超越了国会列举和暗示的权力，并以牺牲行政部门的宪法独立性和自主权为代价扩大了立法部门。”
“正如国会不能从宪法上侵犯最高法院的独立性并没收首席大法官或助理大法官的文件一样，国会也不能侵犯总统的独立性并没收首席执行官的文件，”该意见称。
盖瑟此前曾为特朗普的2020年总统竞选工作，并推动诉讼以挑战选举结果。当被问及他在确认过程中为2020年竞选所做的工作时，盖瑟拒绝就特朗普是否赢得选举回答“是”或“否”，而是说“前总统约瑟夫·拜登被认证为2020年总统选举的获胜者，并于2021年1月20日宣誓就任第四十六任总统。”
“作为一名律师，我的道德责任包括对我提供给前客户的建议保密的责任，”盖瑟在回答关于他是否与律师同事讨论的问题时写道约翰·伊斯曼拒绝承认选举人或采取其他方式挑战选举的可能性。
DOJ, rejecting decades-old law, says Trump can keep his presidential records
Donald Trumpdoes not need to turn over his presidential records to the National Archives, the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel concluded in an opinion this week.
Rejecting a decades-old law enacted after the Watergate scandal to ensure the preservation of presidential records, Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser stated that the Presidential Records Act was unconstitutional and "untethered from any valid and identifiable legislative purpose."
"The PRA exceeds the oversight power because it serves no identifiable and valid legislative purpose. It exceeds any preservation power because Congress cannot preserve presidential records merely for the sake of posterity," the 52-page opinion said.
Coming one day after Trump unveiled a first look at hisplanned presidential library, the opinion -- if adopted by the Trump administration -- could upend the established process for ensuring the public ownership of presidential records. After his first term in office, Trump was accused of violating the Presidential Records Act by storing boxes of sensitive presidential records at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
He was indicted for allegedlyretaining classified informationand obstructing justice, though the case was dismissed over U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's concerns about the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith.
With three years left in Trump's second term, his Department of Justice now says the president "need not further comply" with the law governing the handover of his presidential records.
The DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel is tasked with issuing legal advice for the executive branch, but the Trump administration could face a legal challenge if they attempt to implement the policy.
Drafted in the wake of Watergate, the Presidential Records Act was passed in 1978 and changed the legal ownership of presidential records from private to public. Every president since Ronald Reagan has been subject to the law, which places the National Archives and Records Administration in control of the official records -- such as emails, phone records, and other documentary material created by the president and his staff in the course of their duties -- once the president leaves office.
Under the PRA, former presidents have, at most, 12 years to turn over all their presidential records.
Gaiser's opinion, however, claims that the law is unconstitutional because it "exceeds Congress's enumerated and implied powers and aggrandizes the Legislative Branch at the expense of the constitutional independence and autonomy of the Executive."
"Just as Congress could not constitutionally invade the independence of the Supreme Court and expropriate the papers of the Chief Justice or Associate Justices, Congress cannot invade the independence of the President and expropriate the papers of the Chief Executive," the opinion said.
Gaiser previously worked for Trump's 2020 presidential campaign and pushed litigation to challenge the outcome of the election. When asked about his work on the 2020 campaign during his confirmation process, Gaiser declined to answer "yes" or "no" regarding whether Trump won the election, instead saying that "Former President Joseph Biden was certified as the winner of the 2020 presidential election and sworn in as the forty-sixth President on January 20, 2021."
"My ethical duties as an attorney include a duty of confidentiality regarding the advice I provided to a former client," Gaiser wrote in response to a question regarding whether he discussed with fellow attorneyJohn Eastmanthe possibility of refusing to recognize electors or taking other approaches to challenge the election.
