The Archives hit back. FBI raids Trumps Mar-a-Lago home
The FBI has raided Trump’s house in Florida following legal action by the US National Archives. When a President leaves Office they are required to hand over all official documents to be kept by the State. Trump of course did not as the 15 boxes of papers already handed over underline.
There is a real issue currently about how modern records (say post-1945) are being kept, or not kept. Hardly a socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research goes by without the matter being raised:
http://www.history.ac.uk/events/seminar/socialist-history
The issue is twofold. As we move into the electronic age people value paper records less and often just discard them.
Some of these records are digitised but it is haphazard. Meanwhile the keeping of electronic records is also doubtful. Sometimes web domains lapse and material is lost. The British Library is active in this area trying to make sure records are archived. We must also accept that historically with paper records a lot was destroyed, accidentally or on purpose.
Former Guardian Editor Alan Rusbridger has written a very interesting piece on his ‘hoarding’ of his old paperwork:
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/alan-rusbridger-fine-art-hoarding-mastered/
Long may he hoard. I myself struggle to throw stuff away conscious that in the piles of papers and leaflets that are stacked in my flat lies a whole history of the left over the last 40 years that is mostly not (yet anyway) on the interwebs.
Meanwhile we may reflect on what happened to the official papers Boris Johnson reportedly left strewn about the Downing St flat, how many meetings in the Johnson era were not officially minuted and how many e-mails were sent from personal accounts.
Not just Trump but Johnson too
Dr Keith Flett is the convenor of the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London School of Advanced Studies
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