1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

April 1, the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel declared the Presidential Records Act unconstitutional, giving this administration legal cover to destroy, withhold, or personally keep official government records. Records created in the name of the American people. Records that belong to all of us. The PRA was passed after Watergate for exactly this reason. Every administration since has complied. Only the Trump administration is now arguing the law doesn’t apply to them — and backed it up with a DOJ memo to make it official. I’m asking you to take three concrete actions: 1. Hold urgent oversight hearings on this OLC memo — what records are already at risk, who commissioned this opinion, and what this administration has done with documents since April 1 2. Demand public, written confirmation from the National Archives that it will continue enforcing the PRA in full, regardless of this memo 3. Say so publicly that all presidential records belong to the American people — that this administration is not above the law that protects those records The courts are already moving. The American Historical Association and American Oversight have both filed suit. But litigation takes time, and records — once gone — don’t come back. Congress can’t sit this one out while documents disappear. This isn’t partisan. The PRA has protected the public record through administrations of both parties for nearly 50 years. What this memo does is strip accountability from the presidency itself — for any president, in any party, going forward. These records aren’t his. They’re ours. I trust you understand all that’s at stake.