I was struck by this statement of Trump’s inclinations concerning record keeping:
Before becoming president, Trump left the impression with his employees that he did not want them to take too many notes, for fear of a paper trail that could haunt them down the road. Sam Nunberg, one of Trump’s former political advisers, recalled him saying, “I can’t believe what people put in emails.”
In the White House, many aides take notes — sometimes to memorialize strange moments or orders Trump gives that make them uncomfortable, and sometimes simply to remember one’s marching orders or what is agreed to during a meeting.
Trump sometimes warily views note-taking in the Oval Office. He rarely takes copious notes himself, aides said, but occasionally scribbles on the side of papers. During a briefing on cybersecurity hacks, for instance, Trump bragged to officials that he never used email and said companies would be better off without using technology that harbors such records. [WaPo]
If you’re running your businesses beginning with a view that you have to avoid the law, then perhaps you shouldn’t be in business. Does he think any President since Nixon thought it was necessary to avoid keeping records, of leaving a paper trail?
I’m simply appalled.
The people’s business simply shouldn’t be run this way.
