Maggie Haberman was one of the NY Times journalists who got a lot of “scoops” during the Trump administration. She was one of Donald Trump’s favorite journalists because she was nice to him and didn’t question him too hard, and the people around Trump trusted her to a certain extent. Now Haberman has written a book about her years covering the Trump White House, and it’s called Confidence Man. In the book, Haberman confirms a lot of reporting this week about Trump’s refusal to adhere to the Presidential Records Act – Trump failed to preserve many of his documents while in office, he outright stole documents and moved them to Mar-a-Lago, and as Haberman reports, he literally tried to flush documents down the toilet.
While President Trump was in office, staff in the White House residence periodically discovered wads of printed paper clogging a toilet — and believed the president had flushed pieces of paper, Maggie Haberman scoops in her forthcoming book, “Confidence Man.”
The revelation by Haberman, whose coverage as a New York Times White House correspondent was followed obsessively by Trump, adds a vivid new dimension to his lapses in preserving government documents. Axios was provided an exclusive first look at some of her reporting.
Haberman reports Trump has told people that since leaving office, he has remained in contact with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un — whose “love letters,” as Trump once called them, were among documents the National Archives retrieved from Mar-a-Lago.
The news of White House toilet-flushing comes as the National Archives has reportedly asked the Biden Justice Department to examine Trump’s handling of White House records, amid the congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. While in office, the former president blithely flouted the Presidential Records Act, which required him to preserve written communications concerning his official duties. Trump routinely tore up documents and after leaving office brought substantial written materials back to Mar-a-Lago.
This isn’t just innocently faulty record-keeping, like some documents got damaged somewhere or a few pages of that briefing book were lost. This is willful criminal activity and federal authorities actually want a thorough investigation and possible criminal charges into Trump’s lost, stolen and destroyed records. The National Archives had to send people down to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve FIFTEEN BOXES full of documents which belong to the Archives, not Trump. At least we’ve also solved the mystery of why Trump had all of the toilets replaced in the White House: he needed better toilets to flush his records. But His Records!
Mmmhmm. https://t.co/w3BTQBpS7X
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 9, 2022
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- President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to supporters lined up along the street at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum in Jupiter, Florida after appearing a campaign rally on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020. (Mike Stocker/Sun Sentinel/TNS) Photo via Newscom
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Bethesda, MD – Donald Trump has been contaminated with Covid-19 (Coronavirus). After being hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda for 3 days, the President of the United States came out in a state of health, according to his doctors, reassuring. Physician to the President Doctor Sean Conley, joined by members of the President’s medical team, delivers remarks to reporters at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
Pictured: Donald Trump
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Bethesda, MD – Donald Trump has been contaminated with Covid-19 (Coronavirus). After being hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda for 3 days, the President of the United States came out in a state of health, according to his doctors, reassuring. Physician to the President Doctor Sean Conley, joined by members of the President’s medical team, delivers remarks to reporters at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
Pictured: Donald Trump
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Washington, DC – United States President Donald J. Trump presents the Medal of Freedom to Dan Gable, a two-time NCAA Division I national champion, a world gold medalist, and an Olympic gold medalist, in the in the Oval Office of the White House. Afterwards he took questions about the election and the health of Rudy Giuliani.
Pictured: Dan Gable, Donald Trump
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United States President Donald J. Trump makes remarks as is surrounded by African-American supporters in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Tuesday, June, 10, 2020.
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United States President Donald J. Trump holds a news briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Wednesday, August 12, 2020.
Credit: Chris Kleponis / Pool via CNP
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United States President Donald J. Trump speaks during an event on Protecting Seniors with Diabetes in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 26, 2020 in Washington, DC.
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North America Rights Only – London, UK -20220209-Royals Attend British Asian Trust Reception
-PICTURED: Camila Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles
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