The Trump campaign likely did not preserve documents and communications key to the law enforcement investigation into possible collusion between President Trump's associates and the Kremlin, Politico reported Saturday.
Political campaigns, Politico noted, are typically not required to preserve emails on their private server for long windows of time, and most messages are deleted within 30 to 90 days, unless steps are taken to preserve them.
What's more, the Trump campaign did not do much to establish a plan to maintain those communications, according to a former campaign aide.
"You’d be giving us too much credit,” the former aide told Politico. "The idea of document retention did not come up. The idea of some formal structure did not come up."
The White House itself is subject to more rigorous recordkeeping rules, and White House counsel Don McGahn directed staffers in February to preserve documents and other records that could be requested or used in ongoing federal investigations into Russian election meddling.
But at issue for some White House staffers is the existence of encrypted apps, such as Signal and Confide, that automatically delete messages. Failure to maintain certain records, according to Politico, could potentially lead to legal trouble.
U.S. law requires individuals to preserve documents, emails and other records once they become aware that such material could be pertinent to an investigation, regardless of whether they are formally notified by investigators.
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/335481-trump-campaign-likely-didnt-save-documents-report