SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
EXPLORE +
  • About infoDOCKET
  • Academic Libraries on LJ
  • Research on LJ
  • News on LJ
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Libraries
    • Academic Libraries
    • Government Libraries
    • National Libraries
    • Public Libraries
  • Companies (Publishers/Vendors)
    • EBSCO
    • Elsevier
    • Ex Libris
    • Frontiers
    • Gale
    • PLOS
    • Scholastic
  • New Resources
    • Dashboards
    • Data Files
    • Digital Collections
    • Digital Preservation
    • Interactive Tools
    • Maps
    • Other
    • Podcasts
    • Productivity
  • New Research
    • Conference Presentations
    • Journal Articles
    • Lecture
    • New Issue
    • Reports
  • Topics
    • Archives & Special Collections
    • Associations & Organizations
    • Awards
    • Funding
    • Interviews
    • Jobs
    • Management & Leadership
    • News
    • Patrons & Users
    • Preservation
    • Profiles
    • Publishing
    • Roundup
    • Scholarly Communications
      • Open Access

March 9, 2017 by Gary Price

Two Senators Request Info From Archivist of U.S., David Ferriero Re: Concerns Over Trump Admin. Records Compliance

March 9, 2017 by Gary Price

UPDATED April 2016: The full text of David Ferriero’s (Archivisit of the United States) response to the McCaskill/Carper letter (below) is available here (53 pages; PDF). Included in the response is a photocopy of NARA’s Guide to Presidential Records (2016) that was released in February and is linked to here.
—
On Tuesday, a letter signed by Senator Claire McCaskill and Senator Tom Carper from the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs was sent to David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, “regarding concerns over compliance by President Donald Trump’s Administration with the Presidential Records Act and the Federal Records Act.”
From the Letter:

As you know, we previously raised concerns over several Trump Administration recordkeeping practices. In February, we wrote to White House Counsel Donald McGahn regarding public reports that at least four senior officials in the Administration maintained active email accounts on a private email system while serving in the White House. We also raised concerns last month with Department of Defense Secretary James Mattis over whether President Trump’s reported use of a personal, unsecured smartphone ensures that presidential records created through the use ofthis device are being properly preserved.2 Most recently, we sent a second letter to White House Counsel Donald McGahn related to White House officials’ use of social media platforms, such as Twitter, that may not comply with federal recordkeeping requirements.

The letter continues with a request for information from Ferriero/NARA:

In 2014, Congress recognized the importance of the Archivist of the United States by recently granting the Archivist final determination as to what constitutes a Federal record.8 The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) plays an essential role in preserving our history as the nation’s federal record-keeper. In order to better understand how NARA is addressing the growing concerns over the Trump Administration’s commitment to federal recordkeeping requirements, we ask that you please provide the following information by March 21, 2017:
1. Has any staff from the White House or offices within the Executive Office of the President consulted NARA since January 20, 2017 regarding compliance with the Presidential Records Act or the Federal Records Act? Ifso, has NARA provided any guidance to the White House or the Executive Office ofthe President? Please provide a copy of any written guidance.
2. Has NARA provided, or been asked to provide, guidance to any federal agency regarding methods to ensure that President Trump’s communications made through this personal smartphone are preserved? I f so, please provide a copy o f any written guidance and a list of any agencies that have requested such guidance.
3. NARA considers President Trump’s tweets as presidential records that need to be preserved for historic purposes.9 Has NARA made a determination of whether the Trump Administration must also preserve altered or deleted tweets? I f so, please provide this determination. Ifnot, please indicate when NARA anticipates making such a determination
4. Is NARA aware of any federal agencies or offices within the Executive Office of the President using smartphone apps including, but not limited to, Confide for work- related communications? Has NARA provided any guidance to federal agencies or offices within the Executive Office o f the President on the use o f smartphone apps that do not preserve work-related communications? Please provide a copy o f any written guidance.
5. NARA aware of any government official at federal agencies or offices within the Executive Office of the President who have been instructed to avoid using email as a method ofwork-related communication for fear ofpress leaks? Has NARA provided any guidance to any federal agencies or offices within the Executive Office of the President on whether, and under what circumstances, it is appropriate to instruct covered officials to avoid using email for work-related communications, or on how to preserve the content oftelephonic or in-person work-related communications? Please provide a copy of any written guidance.

The full text of the letter is available here.
Also on Tuesday, another letter signed by McCaskill and Carper, was sent to White House Counsel Don McGahn requesting a meeting to discuss transparency and accountability concerns.
From News Release:

The request to White House Counsel Don McGahn follows reports of President Trump deleting tweets, White House top staffers using applications on their phones that automatically delete messages, and the use of personal accounts for official business. These and other actions occurring in the administration are in potential violation of the Presidential Records Act.

News release here, full text of letter to McGahn here.

Filed under: News

SHARE:

About Gary Price

Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com. Gary is also the co-founder of infoDJ an innovation research consultancy supporting corporate product and business model teams with just-in-time fact and insight finding.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Job Zone

ADVERTISEMENT

Recent Articles on LJ

Q&A with Lauren Comito, Urban Librarians Unite Executive Director

Prince George’s County Memorial Library System, Maryland State Library Launch Guide to Indigenous Maryland

Value Added: Getting the Most Out of Databases

The Restorative Library | Editorial

Making Las Vegas: The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Archive Collection | Archives Deep Dive

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Infodocket Posts

MedlinePlus Tutorial for Librarians and Health Educators Now Available in Spanish

From the National Library of Medicine Technical Bulletin: Are you a health educator or librarian looking for the best quality consumer health information? MedlinePlus is the National Library of Medicine’s ...

Journal Article: "Georgia’s Libraries and the Needs of Patrons Experiencing Homelessness: An Exploratory Study"

The article linked below was recenly published by The Southeastern Librarian. Title Georgia’s Libraries and the Needs of Patrons Experiencing Homelessness: An Exploratory Study Author Anne Blood Source The Southeastern ...

Reference: The 2022 KIDS COUNT Data Book (2022 State Trends in Child Well-Being) Published by Annie E. Casey...

From the Publication Page Chil­dren in Amer­i­ca are inie E. Casey Foun­da­tion with 50-state data on child well-being. The annu­al report focus­es this year on youth men­tal health, con­cur­ring with ...

Report: "How Ukraine’s Librarians Mobilised to Fight the Russian Culture War"

From The Scotsman: Within days, libraries across the country had set up initiatives to supply books to citizens sheltering in underground Metro stations, had created centres for refugees displaced within ...

Recently Released: Annual Report of the Librarian of Congress, FY 2021

Direct to Full Text Report 50 pages; PDF Direct to Full Text Report 50 pages; PDF.

Not Real News: An Associated Press Roundup of Untrue Stories Shared Widely on Social Media This Week

From the Associated Press: A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were ...

Research Tools: "Triumph and Frustration: Database Documents the History of Canadian Women Film Directors"

From The University of Toronto: Women filmmakers in Canada have often grappled with low budgets, employment scarcity and a lack of recognition. Yet they’ve also built a powerful canon of ...

Alaska: New Head Librarian Declines to Take Job at Embattled Anchorage Library; US Library Defunded After Refusing to...

Alaska: New Head Librarian Declines to Take Job at Embattled Anchorage Library (via Anchorage Daily News) & Mayor’s Pick for Top Anchorage Librarian Declines Job, Leaving Controversial Deputy Director in ...

Biden Chooses Colleen Shogan for National Archivist Post

From ExecutiveGov: Colleen Shogan, a nearly 15-year federal service veteran and currently an executive at the White House Historical Association, has been nominated to serve as the U.S.’ archivist, the ...

University of Louisville: Libraries Archivist Joins Effort to Clean Flood-Damaged Materials at Appalshop in Whitesburg, KY

From the University of Louisville Libraries: University of Louisville Libraries Archivist Heather Fox is traveling to Whitesburg, KY to assist in cleaning and preserving damaged archives at Appalshop, an arts ...

Report: "Augmented Reality Could Be the Future of Paper Books, According to New Research"

From the University of Surrey: Augmented reality might allow printed books to make a comeback against the e-book trend, according to researchers from the University of Surrey. Surrey has introduced ...

Journal Article: "Twitter and Endorsed (Fake) News: The Influence of Endorsement by Strong Ties, Celebrities, and a User...

The article linked below was recently published by International Journal of Communication. Title Twitter and Endorsed (Fake) News: The Influence of Endorsement by Strong Ties, Celebrities, and a User Majority ...

ADVERTISEMENT

FOLLOW INFODOCKET ON TWITTER

Tweets by @infodocket

ADVERTISEMENT

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • Programs+
  • Design
  • Leadership
  • People
  • COVID-19
  • Advocacy
  • Opinion
  • INFOdocket
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Booklists
  • Prepub Alert
  • Book Pulse
  • Media
  • Readers' Advisory
  • Self-Published Books
  • Review Submissions
  • Review for LJ

Awards

  • Library of the Year
  • Librarian of the Year
  • Movers & Shakers 2022
  • Paralibrarian of the Year
  • Best Small Library
  • Marketer of the Year
  • All Awards Guidelines
  • Community Impact Prize

Resources

  • LJ Index/Star Libraries
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies

Events & PD

  • Online Courses
  • In-Person Events
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Submit Features/News
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Careers at MSI


© 2022 Library Journal. All rights reserved.


© 2022 Library Journal. All rights reserved.