Donald Trump Allegedly Ripped Up Official Documents After Reading Them, Former White House Aide Testifies

Donald Trump is facing more legal challenges, as a former White House valet testified to the January 6 House committee about the former president's alleged habit of tearing up and discarding official documents.

In a newly released and heavily redacted testimony, the former White House employee told the committee on June 10, 2022, that Trump would routinely destroy documents after reading them.

When a committee member asked, "Do you remember the president ever tearing up or destroying documents that he had seen?" the employee answered: "That's typically what he would do once he's finished with a document. He would tear everything, tear newspapers, tear photos."

"He liked to look at pictures and he would just tear it once he's done looking at it and just throw it on the floor," the valet added.

According to the valet's account, Trump's document destruction occurred even before his presidency ended. The valet stated that he did not remember any documents being destroyed on January 6, 2021, the day of the Capitol riot, when the former president's supporters stormed the building.

This revelation raises concerns since it is illegal under the Presidential Records Act for a president to destroy official records, which are meant to be preserved as part of the national archive.

The Judiciary Committee had been investigating Trump's actions leading up to and during the January 6 incident, focusing on whether he played a role in instigating the riot.

In response to the committee's findings, Special Counsel Jack Smith initiated an investigation into Trump for possible election interference.

The ex-president now faces four felony counts related to the incident and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

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Trump is facing 40 federal charges over allegations he retained classified papers after leaving the White House in January 2021 and then obstructed efforts by the relevant authorities to have them returned.

In August 2022, Trump's Mar-a-Lago private members club was raided by federal agents who recovered large numbers of classified papers.

Trump currently faces 91 criminal charges across four separate indictments in New York, D.C., Georgia and Florida. If he is found guilty of all charges against him, he could face up to 300 years in prison.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and vehemently denies any wrongdoing, referring to them as "political witch hunts" orchestrated by Joe Biden and the Democrats.

Newsweek provided quotes and sources used in this article.