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CREW has filed an appeal in its Presidential Records Act lawsuit. Read the notice of appeal below.

CREW has filed two lawsuits with the National Security Archive (NSA) and Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) on the Trump administration’s failure to keep records of meetings with foreign leaders.

Suing Trump and the White House under the Presidential Records Act 

In May 2019, CREW, NSA and SHAFR sued Trump and the Executive Office of the President for violating the Presidential Records Act (PRA) and the Federal Records Act (FRA) by intentionally failing to create and preserve records  during meetings with Vladimir Putin, the Saudis, and Kim Jong-Un.

Trump’s obstruction of note-taking during meetings with foreign officials is illegal and a threat to our national security and government transparency. For at least 5 meetings between Putin and Trump, there is no US public record of the meeting nor was there a notetaker present, with one instance of Trump even confiscating notes from an interpreter. Meetings between Kim Jong-Un and Trump also lacked transcription. When meeting with the Saudis, Senior White House Adviser Jared Kushner avoided including State Department officials in the meeting, preventing the creation of records of the meeting.

The release of the whistleblower complaint in September revealed that Trump asked Ukraine to investigate Trump’s political rival. The complaint further alleged that White House and other executive branch officials had mismanaged records of politically sensitive conversations between President Trump and foreign leaders, including the Ukraine call. 

On October 1, 2019, CREW, NSA and SHAFR filed a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to seek assurances that the records relevant to the pending lawsuit would not become a part of this pattern of destroying records. The following day, the government agreed to preserve records and a judge issued an order holding them to that. 

Suing Pompeo and the State Department under the Federal Records Act

On November 4, 2019, CREW, NSA and SHAFR sued the State Department and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for violating the FRA by using secretive and irregular diplomatic channels that bypassed the recordkeeping system, in order to enlist the help of Ukrainian operatives to interfere with US elections. 

In at least one instance, Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland directed that no one transcribe a call between State Department officials and Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky. Officials also regularly used encrypted messenger apps to conduct official business without ensuring that those messages were preserved. 

Other recordkeeping complaints

In June 2018, CREW and American Oversight wrote a letter to the administration requesting Trump stop physically destroying documents. The president had a habit of ripping up official documents after using them, which was also a violation of the PRA. The year before, CREW and NSA also sued Trump under the PRA for his use of confidential messaging applications and destruction of tweets.

Lawsuit Documents

  • PRA: Complaint
    May 7, 2019
    Read here
  • PRA: Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss
    August 12, 2019
    Read here
  • PRA: Memo in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion
    PRA: Memorandum in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss - September 13, 2019
    Read here
  • PRA: Temporary Restraining Order
    October 1, 2019
    Read here
  • PRA: Plaintiff's Amended Motion for TRO
    October 1, 2019
    Read here
  • PRA: Defendant's Reply
    October 17, 2019
    Read here
  • PRA: Plaintiffs' Supplemental Brief
    December 2, 2019
    Read here
  • PRA: Defendant's Supplemental Brief
    December 5, 2019
    Read here
  • PRA: Memorandum Opinion
    February 10, 2020
    Read here
  • PRA: Notice of Appeal
    February 18, 2020
    Read here
  • PRA: Brief of Appellants
    June 1, 2020
    Read here
  • PRA: Brief for Appellees
    July 31, 2020
    Read here
  • PRA: Reply Brief for Plaintiff's- Appellants
    August 20, 2020
    Read here
  • PRA: Final Brief for Plaintiffs-Appellants
    September 8, 2020
    Read here
  • PRA: Final Reply Brief for Plaintiffs-Appellants
    September 8, 2020
    Read here
  • Brief for Appellees
    September 10, 2020
    Read here
  • PRA: Appellant Motion for Voluntary Dismissal
    November 30, 2020
    Read here
  • PRA: Mandate
    December 12, 2020
    Read here
  • FRA: Complaint
    November 5, 2019
    Read here
  • FRA: Motion to Dismiss
    January 13, 2020
    Read here
  • FRA: Declaration of Eric F. Stein
    January 13, 2020
    Read here
  • FRA: Memo in Support of Opposition to Motion
    FRA: Memorandum in Support of Opposition to Motion to Dismiss - February 18, 2020
    Read here
  • FRA: Defendant's Reply
    March 20, 2020
    Read here
  • FRA: Memorandum Opinion
    April 3, 2020
    Read here
  • FRA: Amended Complaint
    April 17, 2020
    Read here
  • FRA: Memorandum in Opposition to Motion to Dismiss
    August 15, 2020
    Read here
  • FRA: Reply In Support Motion to Dismiss
    August 17, 2020
    Read here
  • FRA: Memorandum and Opinion
    September 25, 2020
    Read here

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