5-626: The Presidential Records Act ( PRA ) of 1978, 44 U.S.C. §§ 2201 – 2209 , is an Act of the United States Congress governing the official records of Presidents and Vice Presidents created or received after January 20, 1981, and mandating the preservation of all presidential records. Enacted November 4, 1978, the PRA changed the legal ownership of the President's official records from private to public, and established
10-515: A new statutory structure under which Presidents must manage their records. The PRA was amended in 2014, to include the prohibition of sending electronic records through non-official accounts unless an official account is copied on the transmission, or a copy is forwarded to an official account shortly after creation. The Presidential Records Act was enacted in 1978 after President Richard Nixon sought to destroy records relating to his presidential tenure upon his resignation in 1974. The law superseded
15-715: The PRA authorized him to keep documents from his own presidency and shielded him against legal reprisals for doing so. Specifically, the Presidential Records Act: Title 44 of the United States Code Title 44 of the United States Code outlines the role of public printing and documents in the United States Code . The title contains 41 chapters: This United States federal legislation article
20-475: The policy in effect during Nixon’s tenure that a president’s records were considered private property, making clear that presidential records are owned by the public. The PRA requires the President to ensure preservation of records documenting the performance of his official duties (44 U.S.C. § 2203(a)), provides for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to take custody and control of
25-801: The records (44 U.S.C. § 2203(g)), and sets forth a schedule of staged public access to such records (44 U.S.C. § 2204). Records covered by the PRA encompass documentary materials relating to the political activities of the President or members of the President’s staff if they concern or have an effect upon the carrying out of “constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the President” (44 U.S.C. § 2201(2)). During his federal indictment for retaining sensitive government records after he left office and storing them at his personal residence in Florida, former president Donald Trump asserted that
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