{"id":904168,"date":"2026-05-07T08:13:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/07\/trump-sued-over-alarming-memo-allowing-officials-to-delete-records\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T08:13:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:13:38","slug":"trump-sued-over-alarming-memo-allowing-officials-to-delete-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/07\/trump-sued-over-alarming-memo-allowing-officials-to-delete-records\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Sued Over Alarming Memo Allowing Officials to Delete Records"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Trump is being <\/span>sued<\/span><\/a> by two watchdog groups for an internal White House memo asserting that text messages between officials could be deleted, regardless of a law stating the opposite.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lawsuit was filed Friday by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the Freedom of the Press Foundation.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThese text messages capture the day-to-day business of the most powerful office in the country\u2014and arguably the world,\u201d the Freedom of Press Foundation\u2019s Lauren Harper <\/span>told<\/span><\/a> <\/span>The New York Times<\/i><\/span>,<\/i> arguing that the memo \u201csanctifies\u201d the notion that Trump and his Cabinet \u201cget to decide what becomes part of the American story.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This all comes after the Justice Department claimed that the post-Watergate Presidential Records Act was unconstitutional earlier this month. And just a day after that, the White House sent <\/span>that memo<\/span><\/a> around, asserting that text messages between officials didn\u2019t need to be kept unless they were \u201cthe sole record of official decision-making.\u201d The memo is cited in the watchdog groups\u2019 lawsuit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond text messages, the memo relaxes restrictions on emails from personal accounts and general record-keeping.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This lackadaisical approach is not new within the Trump administration. Trump has been known to <\/span>tear important documents<\/span><\/a> into little pieces and leave them on the floor, and was of course criminally indicted for taking classified records to his home in Florida after losing the 2020 election.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Even the State Department recognizes that the U.S. entered the Iran war on behalf of Israel.<\/p>\n

A government <\/span>release<\/a> written earlier this week by <\/span>Reed D. Rubinstein<\/a>, the department\u2019s legal adviser, detailed how the U.S. \u201cis engaged in this conflict at the request of and in the collective self-defense of its Israeli ally, as well as in the exercise of the United States\u2019 own inherent right of self-defense.\u201d The release cited multiple <\/span>letters<\/a> issued by the agency to the U.N. Security Council as evidence of the apparent connection.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But the candid admission directly contradicts the White House and Donald Trump, who has repeatedly insisted that Israel had nothing to do with his decision to spark another unpopular Middle East war. Just this week, Trump complained online about the circling narrative, claiming on <\/span>Truth Social<\/a> that \u201cIsrael never talked me into the war with Iran\u201d but that \u201cthe results of Oct. 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON, did.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

U.S. involvement in the war was reportedly arranged following a February 11 meeting between Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and several U.S. and Israeli officials in the White House Situation Room, <\/span>The New York Times<\/i><\/a> reported earlier this month.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was reportedly Netanyahu\u2019s direct influence\u2014and the ensuing pressure campaign\u2014that thrust America into the war. U.S. military commanders advised Trump that components of Netanyahu\u2019s plan to attack Iran were \u201cfarcical,\u201d but by that point, Trump had already been inspired to throw over Tehran\u2019s theocratic regime.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s likely that Netanyahu continues to hold the reins. Last month, Trump told <\/span>The Times of Israel<\/i><\/a> that the decision to end the Iran war will be a \u201cmutual\u201d decision he makes with the Israeli leader\u2014though Israel has not made peace negotiations easy, repeatedly defying fragile ceasefire arrangements by relentlessly bombing its regional neighbors. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is not clear exactly what the war in Iran has accomplished. Together, the U.S. and Israel have killed thousands of Iranian civilians and obliterated Iranian civilian infrastructure. Meanwhile, 13 U.S. soldiers have died. But the regime has not been overthrown\u2014if anything, it\u2019s gotten more extreme.<\/span><\/p>\n

The war also spiked the cost of living for people around the world and agitated international relations\u2014particularly between the U.S. and longtime allies in the western hemisphere. It has cost American taxpayers more than $1 billion per day (the current total is <\/span>estimated<\/a> at more than $60 billion) and sparked a political rejection of MAGA ideology across the U.S. as the American public becomes more and more disillusioned with its increasingly <\/span>infirm<\/a>, <\/span>unstable<\/a>, and <\/span>volatile<\/a> president.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Republican Representative Thomas Kean Jr. of western <\/span>New Jersey h<\/span>asn\u2019t voted on a single bill since March 5. Apparently, he\u2019s been ill.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kean Jr. and his staff <\/span>never explained<\/a> to his constituents why the lawmaker was suddenly missing in action, but the 57-year-old politician was recently willing to share an update with Republican leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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House Speaker Mike Johnson told <\/span>ABC News<\/a> Friday that he spoke with Kean over the phone the day before, during which the lawmaker explained that he has been dealing with an unspecified \u201cpersonal health matter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was happy to speak to Tom Kean Jr. this afternoon by phone,\u201d Johnson said, referring to their Thursday call. \u201cHe is attending to a personal health matter and expects to be back to 100 percent very soon. Tom is one of the most dedicated and hardest-working members of Congress, and I am grateful for all he does and will continue to do to serve New Jerseyans and our country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That lone response was the culmination of a small pressure campaign led by the other two House Republicans from New Jersey: Representatives Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew. Both were unable to make contact with Kean. Van Drew told <\/span>Politico<\/a> that it had been \u201cradio silence\u201d from their conservative colleague.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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New York Republicans were similarly stumped in their efforts to call and text Kean, while other Republicans\u2014such as Representative Don Bacon\u2014were completely unaware of their ally\u2019s absence until they failed to find him on the House floor earlier this week.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was looking for him,\u201d Bacon said Wednesday. \u201cI didn\u2019t know it was that long.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kean\u2019s staff told Politico on Wednesday that the lawmaker was struggling with health issues, but did not provide additional details. Harrison Neely, a strategist for the lawmaker, told the publication that Kean will be \u201cback on a regular full schedule very soon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Kean was elected to represent New Jersey\u2019s 7th congressional district in 2022, and is months away from being thrust into a contentious midterm reelection cycle. He is currently unchallenged in the Garden State\u2019s Republican primary, scheduled for June 2, but is likely to face tremendous opposition from Democrats come November. Over the last several months, New Jersey\u2019s 7th congressional district has shifted from a \u201clean Republican\u201d advantage to a toss-up, according to an analysis by the <\/span>Cook Political Report<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It sure seems that the Trump administration is trying to pull a fast one on Senator Thom Tillis. <\/p>\n

Just hours after the Department of Justice <\/span>announced<\/a> Friday that it had dropped the investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the renovation of the central bank\u2019s Washington headquarters, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that the case was still ongoing. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe case is not necessarily dropped, it\u2019s just being moved over to the inspector general who has critical tools at their disposal to continue to look into the financial mismanagement at the Fed,\u201d Leavitt <\/span>said<\/a> while speaking to reporters. <\/span><\/p>\n

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LOL — Leavitt says the Powell investigation actually isn’t over<\/p>\n

“The case is not necessarily dropped, it’s just being moved over to the inspector general. This has been a priority for the president. The investigation still continues.” pic.twitter.com\/LW4jeKzY9p<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2014 Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 24, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

As a member of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Tillis has <\/span>repeatedly vowed<\/a> to exercise his ability to single-handedly block Trump\u2019s nominee to chair the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, until the investigation into Powell is dropped. Committee Democrats are united in blocking Warsh, so Tillis\u2019s single \u201cno\u201d vote can tip the scales.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tillis has said he believes Donald Trump wasn\u2019t behind the investigation into Powell, even though the president has mocked and threatened to fire him repeatedly. Tillis suggested instead that it was the work of \u201csomebody in the DOJ\u201d who was hoping to \u201cmaybe garner favor from somebody in the White House,\u201d according to <\/span>NBC News<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Leavitt didn\u2019t even bother to pretend the president wasn\u2019t behind the investigation. \u201cThis has obviously been a priority for the president,\u201d she said. \u201cSo the investigation still continues, it\u2019s just under a different authority.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Read more about the case:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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President Trump has <\/span>offended<\/span><\/a> U.S. ally India with his racist Truth Social post calling the country a \u201chellhole.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On Wednesday evening, Trump posted a screed from far-right commentator Michael Savage railing against birthright citizenship, claiming Indian immigrants had poor English skills and that Indians in the technology industry weren\u2019t hiring white Americans. Trump posted <\/span>not only <\/span>a four-page <\/span>transcript<\/a> of Savage\u2019s remarks but a <\/span>video<\/a> as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Among Savage\u2019s remarks was the line, \u201cA baby here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring the entire family in from China or India or some other hellhole on the planet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement on Thursday, a spokesperson for the Indian foreign ministry, Randhir Jaiswal, <\/span>wrote that<\/a> Trump\u2019s post was \u201cobviously uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey certainly do not reflect the reality of the India-US relationship, which has long been based on mutual respect and shared interests,\u201d Jaiswal added.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Indians in the U.S. were also offended.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are deeply disturbed by @POTUS sharing this hateful, racist screed targeting Indian and Chinese Americans,\u201d the right-leaning Hindu American Foundation <\/span>posted<\/span><\/a> on X. \u201cEndorsing such rants as the president of the United States will further stoke hatred and endanger our communities, at a time when xenophobia and racism are already at an all time high.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s post came despite many Indian Americans being among his supporters, such as Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and FBI Director Kash Patel. But Trump has long railed against immigrants from what he has called \u201c<\/span>shithole countries<\/a>,\u201d making the remark in 2018 and repeating it in 2025. Those racist views are probably why he\u2019s trying to <\/span>overturn<\/a> birthright citizenship and demolish pathways to legal immigration.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Just days into the fallout over <\/span>The Atlantic<\/i>\u2019s <\/span>reporting on his alleged drinking issues, FBI Director Kash Patel will now have to answer questions about a 2005 <\/span>letter<\/span><\/a>, in which he admitted to being arrested twice for public intoxication and public urination. <\/span><\/p>\n

The letter, which was first reported by The Intercept, was part of Patel\u2019s Florida Bar Disclosure Statement. Patel reported that his first arrest, in 2001, occurred while he was drunk at a basketball game as a student at the University of Richmond. He was escorted out of the game by campus police. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cUpon exiting the arena,\u201d he wrote, \u201cthe officer placed me under arrest for public intoxication, as I was not yet of 21 years of age.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The second arrest was while he was a law student at Pace University. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe went to a few of the local bars and consumed some alcoholic drinks.\u2026 In a gross deviation from appropriate conduct, we attempted to relieve our bladders while walking home,\u201d Patel wrote. \u201cBefore we could even do so, a police cruiser stopped the group. We were then arrested for public urination.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cBoth of these incidents are not representative of my usual conduct of behavior,\u201d Patel continued. \u201cAnd it is my hope that the Board views them as an anomaly. I dually apologize for my improper behavior both to the Board and the community at large.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While neither incident was particularly scandalous, they do not appear to have just been anomalies, as Patel said. <\/span>The Atlantic<\/i>\u2019s <\/span>Sarah Fitzpatrick has not only said she stands by her initial report about Patel\u2019s drinking affecting his performance, but that she\u2019d \u201cbeen inundated by additional sourcing going up to the highest levels of the government, thanking us for doing the work, providing additional corroborating information.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Patel has yet to comment on the letter. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Department of Justice announced<\/a> Friday that it will resurrect federal firing squads as part of an effort to implement Donald Trump\u2019s day-one executive order<\/a> to revamp capital punishment.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s order, signed in January 2025, demanded the attorney general pursue the death penalty on \u201call crimes of a severity demanding its use,\u201d including murder of a law enforcement officer or any capital crime committed by an undocumented immigrant.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Under former President Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland had paused federal executions. Trump became furious when, before leaving the White House, Biden commuted<\/a> the death sentences of 37 prisoners to life without parole.* The Republican kicked off his second term in office with a <\/span>bloodthirsty decree<\/a> for more death.<\/span><\/p>\n

The January order made no mention of firing squads. Still, the DOJ said in its Friday announcement it had directed the Bureau of Prisons to \u201cexpand the execution protocol to include additional manners of execution such as the firing squad.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Some view firing squads as more humane than lethal injection, which <\/span>do not have<\/a> a 100 percent success rate and sometimes require multiple doses. However, execution by firing squad can also result in prisoners <\/span>slowly bleeding to death<\/a> if they are not immediately killed by the bullet.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In March 2025, the Supreme Court allowed South Carolina to carry out the country\u2019s first execution by firing squad in 15 years. Since 1608, at least 144 prisoners have been executed by firing squads in America, most of them in Utah, according to the <\/span>Associated Press<\/a>. Firing squads have not gained much traction outside of Utah because they are considered to be barbaric. Currently only five states\u2014Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah\u2014allow the use of firing squads in certain circumstances.<\/span><\/p>\n

* This article previously misstated Biden\u2019s order regarding 37 prisoners on death row.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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President Donald Trump\u2019s attempt to ban immigrants from claiming asylum at the southern border was blocked in a federal court Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia <\/span>ruled<\/span><\/a> 2\u20131 that Trump could not deport immigrants \u201cunder summary removal procedures of his own making\u201d or suspend their rights to apply for asylum, even if they cross the border illegally.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Cornelia Pillard, an Obama appointee, and J. Michelle Childs, appointed by Biden, ruled against Trump, while Trump appointee Justin Walker ruled in the administration\u2019s favor. The three-judge panel upheld a ruling from U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in <\/span>July<\/span><\/a>, who said that Trump\u2019s January 2025 <\/span>executive order<\/span><\/a> ending asylum claims for those who cross the U.S.-Mexico border went against federal law.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBarring foreign individuals who are physically present in the United States from applying for asylum and, if they make the statutory showing that they are eligible, from being considered to receive it cannot be squared with the statute,\u201d Childs wrote in her ruling.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last year, Trump adviser Stephen Miller <\/span>railed<\/span><\/a> against the lower court\u2019s similar conclusion, calling Moss a \u201cmarxist judge\u201d attempting to \u201ccircumvent the Supreme Court,\u201d which is where the case is likely headed next. Asylum claims have plummeted under Trump, who has <\/span>fired immigration judges<\/span><\/a> and pushed <\/span>mass deportations<\/span><\/a> despite multiple defeats in <\/span>court<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Donald Trump made significant gains<\/a> with young voters, particularly young men, across the country in the 2024 election. But less than two years into his term, the MAGA leader has completely lost them.*<\/p>\n

An <\/span>NBC News Decision Desk poll<\/a> published Friday reveals a stark reversal in Gen Z\u2019s opinion of the president, indicating that just 24 percent approve of Trump\u2019s performance, while 76 percent disapprove.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The nosedive is in no small part due to the war with Iran, and the subsequent cost of living crisis caused by sky-high fuel and oil costs. A collective 81 percent of Gen Z respondents said that they either somewhat or strongly disapprove of Trump\u2019s handling of the Iran war, and 72 percent said that the U.S. should stop military operations in Iran altogether. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some 48 percent of polled young Americans said that inflation and the rising cost of living were the most important economic matters to themselves and their families at the moment, an 8 percent increase compared to August 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, roughly 80 percent of Gen Z respondents said that the U.S. is on the wrong track, the highest percentage of any age group polled, and nearly half (47 percent) of polled young adults said that they would choose to live in the past if they could. A minority of respondents appeared optimistic about the future: Just 10 percent said they\u2019d choose to go less than 50 years into the future if the option was hypothetically available to them, and 5 percent said they would time-skip by more than 50 years. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Those polled said that their feelings about the future were informed by their relationship with technology and a \u201cgrowing discomfort with being connected to the internet at all times,\u201d reported <\/span>NBC News<\/a>. The current technological and geopolitical uncertainty has inspired a nostalgia for a less chaotic, less technologically dependent world.<\/span><\/p>\n

The poll found that 62 percent of Gen Z respondents believed that life will be worse for them than for previous generations. Just 25 percent said that they thought that the quality of life would improve compared to the past, and 13 percent said it would remain the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

* This article originally misstated the number of young Trump voters.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Read more about Trump\u2019s support:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Senator Elizabeth Warren thinks that anyone celebrating the Trump administration ending its investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is \u201c<\/span>fooling themselves<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On Friday, the Justice Department announced it would be <\/span>dropping<\/span><\/a> its targeted, flimsy investigation into Powell, who has been under threat of termination from President Trump for months due to his refusal to lower interest rates. But Warren doesn\u2019t see the move as an admission of defeat\u2014rather, as a brazen attempt to expedite the nomination of Powell\u2019s replacement, Kevin Warsh, who is seen as much more favorable to the Trump administration. Just this week, Warsh avoided questions in a congressional hearing about his financial ties to <\/span>Jeffrey Epstein<\/span><\/a> and whether Trump spoke to him about <\/span>lowering interest rates<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis is just an attempt to clear the path for Senate Republicans to install President Trump\u2019s sock puppet Kevin Warsh as Fed Chair,\u201d Warren wrote in a <\/span>statement<\/span><\/a> on Friday. \u201cLet\u2019s be clear what the Justice Department announced today: they threatened to restart the bogus criminal investigation into Fed Chair Powell at any time while failing to drop their ridiculous criminal probe against Governor Cook.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The DOJ\u2019s decision to end the investigation follows Republican Senator Thom Tillis\u2019s refusal to confirm Warsh as the next Fed chair \u201cuntil this legal matter is fully resolved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who believes Donald Trump\u2019s corrupt scheme to take over the Fed is over is fooling themselves,\u201d Warren continued. \u201cThe Senate should not proceed with the nomination of Kevin Warsh.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Malcolm Ferguson
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Trump is being sued by two watchdog groups for an internal White House memo asserting that text messages between officials could be deleted, regardless of a law stating the opposite. The lawsuit was filed Friday by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the Freedom of the Press Foundation. \u201cThese text messages<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":904169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23350,4],"tags":[17989,5052],"class_list":{"0":"post-904168","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-alarming","8":"category-trump","9":"tag-alarming","10":"tag-trump"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/904169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}