Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Saturday, October 17, 2026

A federal appeals court on Friday appeared poised to reject the Trump administration's assertion that a federal law regulating presidential records is unconstitutional.

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... A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit questioned government lawyers over their attempts to strike down the Presidential Records Act, Politico reported.

Enacted in 1978 following the Watergate scandal, the law says presidential records are government property and must be turned over by the White House to the National Archives.

Trump administration lawyer John Bailey argued the act was an "unconstitutional intrusion on the presidency," The New York Times reported.

Judges on the panel appeared skeptical of the government's position that the records belong to the president.

"Can the president then offer on eBay to sell them, all of our national security secrets, to the highest bidder?" Judge Patricia Millett asked Bailey.

"The Presidential Records Act, if unconstitutional, would not be a bar to that," Bailey replied. "Consistent with history and tradition ... the president's papers belong to the president, yes."

Judge Cornelia Pillard went further, asking Bailey what would happen if the records were inherited by relatives of the president. ...


#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-10-17 01:35 PM | Reply

Odd that Pres Trump is not using the "National Security" free pass that SCOTUS has given to him.


#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-10-17 01:36 PM | Reply

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