The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Some records sent to Jan. 6 committee were torn up, taped back together — mirroring a Trump habit

The National Archives confirmed Trump’s unusual habit of ripping up documents, which forced aides to attempt to piece them back together in order to comply with the Presidential Records Act.

Updated January 31, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. EST|Published January 31, 2022 at 6:04 p.m. EST
Former president Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Conroe, Tex., on Jan. 29. The National Archives confirmed Trump's habit of ripping up White House documents. (Michael Stravato/For The Washington Post)

When the National Archives and Records Administration handed over a trove of documents to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, some of the Trump White House records had been ripped up and then taped back together, according to three people familiar with the records.

Former president Donald Trump was known inside the White House for his unusual and potentially unlawful habit of tearing presidential records into shreds and tossing them on the floor — creating a headache for records management analysts who meticulously used Scotch tape to piece together fragments of paper that were sometimes as small as confetti, as Politico reported in 2018.