'Save Everything': Democrat Warns Trump Officials They Could Face Prison for Unlawfully Destroying Records

A senior House Democrat has warned Trump administration officials that unlawfully destroying federal records could carry prison penalties, issuing preservation notices a day after the midterm elections.

Representative Robert C. 'Bobby' Scott, the ranking Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee, sent the notices on 4 November to leaders of 10 federal departments and agencies under the committee's jurisdiction. His office announced the action under the heading 'Save Everything'.

The letters seek written assurances by 18 November that government records remain protected and accessible. They are preservation requests, not criminal charges or findings that the recipients have destroyed evidence.

McMahon and Kennedy Among Recipients

Recipients include Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

Notices also went to the Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, National Labor Relations Board, AmeriCorps, Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts.

In his letter to McMahon, Scott explicitly connected the request to preparations for the 120th Congress. He stressed that preserving government records enables lawmakers to examine how agencies operate and carry out their oversight responsibilities.

The letter covers information held physically, digitally or electronically. It also extends the reminder across the Education Department's organisational units and personnel, rather than limiting it to the secretary's immediate office.

Where the Prison Warning Comes From

The potential three-year prison term is grounded in an existing criminal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2071. Scott's letter cites that provision alongside federal records-management obligations.

The law addresses specified conduct involving government records, including wilful and unlawful concealment, removal or destruction. It provides for a fine, imprisonment of up to three years, or both.

A separate subsection addressing people entrusted with custody of such records also covers falsification and provides for forfeiture of office and disqualification from holding federal office.

Those penalties are not automatic consequences of receiving Scott's letter or missing his requested response date. Criminal liability would require establishing the elements of an offence through the legal process.

Preservation Duties Already Apply

Federal agencies' responsibilities do not begin with a congressional warning. National Archives guidance says agencies must report actual, impending or threatened unlawful destruction and other unauthorised actions involving records to the Archivist of the United States.

The statutory framework also requires agency heads, with the Archivist's assistance, to initiate action through the attorney general to recover records they know or have reason to believe were unlawfully removed.

Record retention does not mean every government document must be kept forever. Agencies use approved schedules to determine retention periods and authorised disposal. National Archives guidance states that records must not be destroyed without the required disposal authority.

That distinction separates routine, authorised records management from the unlawful destruction addressed in Scott's warning.

What Happens Next

The immediate deadline is 18 November. Scott wants written confirmation that records have not been, and will not be, concealed, altered, destroyed or otherwise made inaccessible.

His request puts agency leaders on notice about their preservation duties before the next Congress begins. The published notices do not establish a cover-up; they seek to ensure that material needed for future scrutiny remains available.