In an unusual move, Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Thursday ordered the White House to preserve records of President Trump’s dealings with foreign leaders.
Jackson, an Obama appointee, issued the order on Thursday and demanded the White House not destroy records of “meetings, phone calls, and other communications with foreign leaders.”
Jackson’s order is in response to a lawsuit brought by radical left-wing watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
The order by Jackson appears to cover President Trump directly, although it doesn’t mention Trump by name, it covers all “defendants,” and President Trump is one of the two defendants named in the lawsuit — this is a highly controversial and unusual move by a federal judge.
The suit, which was filed in May before the Trump-Ukraine ‘scandal’ created by Schiff and a Deep State CIA officer, accused the Trump White House of failing to uphold the Presidential Records Act.
The corrupt judge also addresses President Trump’s electronic system designed to keep his calls secure and out of the hands of Deep State leakers.
Jackson ordered “all records of efforts by White House or other executive branch officials to return, ‘claw back,’ ’lock down’ or recall White House records” about Trump’s dealings with foreign leaders.
In light of the whistleblower, lawyers representing Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington on Tuesday asked judge Jackson for a temporary restraining order, using reports from the Trump-Ukraine ‘whistleblower’ as evidence Trump is trying to hide his phone calls with foreign leaders from a records-keeping database.
The Justice Department responded on Wednesday in a court filing that the White House was already preserving many of the records mentioned in the plaintiff’s lawsuit.
Politico reported:
Justice Department lawyers said in a court filing Wednesday that the White House had already taken steps to secure many of the records the plaintiffs expressed concern about. The filing also suggested that in response to the request for a restraining order, White House lawyers broadened an existing instruction to preserve records of Trump’s foreign interactions.
Justice Department attorneys said those actions met a request by the judge to “moot” the groups’ request for a restraining order.
Jackson appeared to agree. After a telephone conference Wednesday, she issued a notice saying that the request for a restraining order was denied because it was moot in light of the government’s assurances. However, the following day, she issued an order insisting that six categories of records related to the suit be preserved.
Jackson’s decision to issue an order despite the pledge to the court to maintain the records is rather unusual. In most instances, judges simply note such a pledge and say they assume that the parties involved will abide by it. The order means anyone destroying White House records it covers could be subject to sanction or even criminal charge for contempt of court.
Screenshot of Judge Jackson’s order (courtesy of Politico):
