(AP)

       Former President Donald Trump is under suspicion of violating federal law by allegedly mishandling documents that the White House was required to keep safe for preservation.

       A weekend report by The Washington Post claimed White House documents ranging from schedules to sensitive memos were regularly ripped into quarters and tossed into trash bins or “burn bags” for incineration at the Pentagon.

       The practice reportedly led to aides being forced to sift through the contents to determine which needed to be preserved under the Presidential Records Act, which requires the White House to maintain all documents touched by the president for preservation by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

       New concerns about Mr Trump’s adherence to the Presidential Records Act emerged early Monday as another Post report revealed NARA visited his Mar-a-Lago residence last month to retrieve multiple boxes that had been improperly removed from the White House.

       Advisers to the former president insisted the boxes didn’t contain any sensitive materials but rather mementos and correspondence from other world leaders - including letters from North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

       Recommended Trump filled ‘burn bags’ with shredded White House records in violation of federal law, report says Trump White House documents including Kim Jong-un ‘love letters’ had to be retrieved from Mar-a-Lago Capitol rioter wants to subpoena Trump to testify in his defence that he acted on ex-president’s direction

       Show latest update 1644247812 Capitol rioter wants Trump to testify in his defence

       A man facing charges for the 6 January Capitol riots has asked for Trump to testify in his defence, claiming that such testimony will prove he acted at the former president’s direction.

       Dustin Thompson’s attorney made the extraordinary request in a 4 February court filing, arguing that the testimony will help establish that Mr Trump “and his conspirators engaged in a concerted effort to deceive the public, including [Mr Thompson], into believing that American democracy was at stake if Congress was permitted to certify the election results”.

       The Independent’s Alex Woodward has more:

       Capitol rioter wants to subpoena Donald Trump to testify in his defense Lawyer for man charged in attack argues Trump and his allies ‘engaged in a concerted effort to deceive the public ... into believing that American democracy was at stake’

       Megan Sheets 7 February 2022 15:30

       1644246012 Capitol riot committee receives taped-up documents

       News of the document seizure at Mar-a-Lago comes after the Congressional committee investigating the 6 January Capitol riots made a major legal breakthrough in obtaining reams of paperwork and communications records that Mr Trump insisted were covered by “executive privilege”.

       Mr Trump has unsuccessfully cited the legal principle in court many times as a means of keeping his affairs hidden from scrutiny, but sitting President Joe Biden has declined to extend the privilege to the records his predecessor is sensitive about.

       However the committee is still being confronted by the difficult fact that Mr Trump would often attempt to physically destroy documents that legally needed to be preserved, in the process obliging his staff to tape shards of paper back together as best they could.

       The National Archives handed more than 750 pages of requested documents to the committee last month - many of which had reportedly been reconstructed.

       Megan Sheets 7 February 2022 15:00

       1644244212 Pervasive shredding of documents in Trump’s White House

       A weekend report from The Washington Post claimed Trump’s well-known habit of ripping up documents did not stop once he entered the White House, where staff reportedly resorted to taping together piles of shredded paper.

       The newspaper said the practice was “far more widespread and indiscriminate than previously known” and extended throughout his four years in office.

       White House documents – from schedules to sensitive memos – were regularly ripped into quarters and tossed into trash bins or on the floor of Air Force One, or stuffed into “burn bags” to be incinerated at the Pentagon.

       Aides were later reportedly forced to sift through the contents to determine which documents needed to be preserved under the Presidential Records Act, which requires the White House to maintain all documents touched by the president for preservation by the National Archives and Records Administration.

       The Independent’s Alex Woodward has more:

       Trump shredded ‘hundreds’ of White House records while in office, report says Trump shredded ‘hundreds’ of White House records while in office, report says

       Megan Sheets 7 February 2022 14:30

       1644243276 White House documents seized from Mar-a-Lago

       The National Archives recently recovered multiple boxes of official White House paperwork that Donald Trump had transported to his residence at Mar-a-Lago, a new Washington Post report claims.

       According to the newspaper, the documents were recovered from Mr Trump’s Florida encampment last month, raising further concerns about his potential violation of the Presidential Records Act.

       The full extent of the documents in the boxes has not been disclosed but they reportedly included “love letters” between Mr Trump and North Korean despot Kim Jong-un.

       It comes as the committee investigating the 6 January Capitol riots continues combing through records from the Trump administration.

       The Independent’s Andrew Naughtie reports:

       Trump’s Kim Jong-un ‘love letters’ had to be retrieved from Mar-a-Lago President has fought hard, but unsuccessfully, to keep records away from legal and government scrutiny

       Megan Sheets 7 February 2022 14:14