House Democrat warns 10 Trump agencies: destroy records and face 3 years in prison

The day after the midterm elections, the top Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee told the leaders of ten federal agencies to keep their records or risk prison. Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia sent the notices on Wednesday, November 4, and asked for written assurance by November 18, according to the committee Democrats' own press release, titled "Ranking Member Scott to Trump Administration: 'Save Everything.'"

What the letters say

Scott reminded each recipient of the Federal Records Act of 1950, which requires agencies to preserve records documenting "the transaction of public business," per the release. He warned that employees who willfully and unlawfully conceal, remove, destroy or falsify federal records, or try to, face fines or up to three years in prison, and that a convicted officeholder can lose the job and be barred from future federal office. Alternet quotes the letter saying the American people "have given Congress a clear mandate to root out waste, fraud and abuse within the administration." UA News, republishing The Guardian, reports the same three-year warning and November 18 deadline. We could not open The Guardian's original page, so we rely on the committee release and Alternet for the details.

The ten recipients, per the release: the Departments of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services and Agriculture; the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; the National Labor Relations Board; AmeriCorps; the Institute of Museum and Library Services; and the National Endowments for the Humanities and the Arts. The committee asked for confirmation that records, data or information have not been and will not be concealed, modified, removed, transferred, destroyed or made inaccessible.

Why now

CBS News and Time both reported on election night that Democrats had won the House, and projections showed them taking the Senate as well; some House races were still uncalled when we checked, so final seat counts may move. Scott is currently the ranking member, meaning the minority, and a minority member's letter is a request, not an order. Alternet and the Guardian report describe it as a signal of the oversight Democrats expect to pursue once they hold committee gavels.

The law, step by step

The Federal Records Act sets the duty to keep records. It is mostly an administrative statute. Under 44 U.S.C. 3106, an agency head must notify the Archivist of any actual, impending or threatened unlawful removal or destruction of records and, with the Archivist's help, ask the Attorney General to act to recover them. The Act does not itself create the three-year prison term.

The criminal penalty sits in 18 U.S.C. 2071. Subsection (b) covers anyone with custody of a record who "willfully and unlawfully" conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies or destroys it: a fine, up to three years, or both, plus forfeiture of office and disqualification from holding any federal office. That matches the figure in Scott's letter. The word "willfully" matters: routine disposal under an approved records schedule is lawful.

Obstruction is the heavier statute. 18 U.S.C. 1519 reaches anyone who knowingly alters, destroys, conceals or falsifies a record with intent to impede or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within a federal agency's jurisdiction, "or in relation to or contemplation of" one. The maximum is 20 years. Scott's letter, as reported, cites the three-year provision; the 20-year statute is our addition, and it applies only when intent to obstruct can be shown.

Who it touches

Several of the named agencies police workplaces: the NLRB handles union and unfair-labor-practice cases, the EEOC handles discrimination charges, and Labor enforces wage and safety rules. An employer with an open case at any of them has files in those agencies' hands that a future committee could request. That is an inference from the agencies' jobs, not something the letters say. The practical point for owners: your own correspondence with these agencies is also a record you should keep, and the same preservation duty applies to private parties once an investigation is reasonably foreseeable.

What to watch

November 18 is the first checkpoint: whether the agencies answer, and how. A new Congress is not seated until January, and subpoena power belongs to committee chairs. We have not seen responses from any of the ten agencies at the time of writing.

Sources: House Education and Workforce Committee Democrats; Alternet; UA News (The Guardian); CBS News; Time; U.S. Code via Cornell LII. This is news and general legal information, not legal advice.