Fact check: Trump falsely claims George H.W. Bush took millions of documents to a former bowling alley and Chinese restaurant - CNN

Washington CNN  — 

First, erstwhile President Donald Trump tried a mendacious assertion astir the document-handling practices of erstwhile President Barack Obama. Now, Trump is making the aforesaid mendacious assertion astir different erstwhile presidents.

In August, aft the FBI recovered classified documents and galore different statesmanlike records from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and edifice successful Florida, Trump declared that Obama had taken millions of statesmanlike documents to Chicago. The National Archives and Records Administration quickly debunked his assertion, explaining it was NARA itself, not Obama, that took the documents to a NARA-managed installation successful the Chicago area.

Then, astatine rallies successful Nevada and Arizona this weekend, Trump not lone repeated the mendacious assertion astir Obama but added near-identical dishonesty astir erstwhile presidents George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Most dramatically, Trump said, “George H.W. Bush took millions of documents to a erstwhile bowling alley and a erstwhile Chinese restaurant; wherever they combined them. So they’re successful a bowling alley slash Chinese restaurant.” Trump added, “A Chinese edifice and a bowling alley. With nary information and a breached beforehand door.”

Trump besides claimed that “Bill Clinton took millions of documents from the White House to a erstwhile car dealership successful Arkansas” and that “George W. Bush stored 68 cardinal pages successful a warehouse successful Texas.”

Facts First: All of these Trump claims are false. George H.W. Bush did not instrumentality millions of documents to a erstwhile bowling alley and Chinese restaurant. Rather, the National Archives and Records Administration took Bush’s statesmanlike documents to this installation anterior to the opening of the Bush statesmanlike room successful the aforesaid city. Trump’s claims astir Clinton and George W. Bush are inaccurate successful precisely the aforesaid way: NARA, not the erstwhile presidents themselves, enactment the documents successful impermanent retention astatine NARA-managed facilities astatine the erstwhile car dealership successful Arkansas and the warehouse successful Texas. And Trump was besides incorrect that determination was “no security” astatine the installation wherever the elder Bush’s documents were housed: the installation was heavy secured, according to a news study astatine the time.

So determination is nary equivalence betwixt Trump’s handling of statesmanlike documents and those of his predecessors. In the others’ cases, the statesmanlike documents were successful NARA’s possession and stored securely and professionally. In Trump’s case, the statesmanlike documents recovered successful haphazard amateur retention astatine Mar-a-Lago were successful Trump’s ain possession, contempt numerous attempts by some NARA and the Justice Department to get them back.

NARA sent CNN a statement connected Tuesday, aft the archetypal work of this article, confirming that Trump’s claims are false.

The connection said that NARA had possession of Bush, Bush, Clinton, Obama and Ronald Reagan statesmanlike records aft those presidents near bureau and that NARA moved the records to impermanent facilities NARA leased adjacent the locations of their aboriginal statesmanlike libraries. The connection continued: “All specified impermanent facilities met strict archival and information standards, and person been managed and staffed exclusively by NARA employees. Reports that bespeak oregon connote that those Presidential records were successful the possession of the erstwhile Presidents oregon their representatives, aft they near office, oregon that the records were housed successful substandard conditions, are mendacious and misleading.”

Trump urged the authorities to “look into what took place” with George H.W. Bush and statesmanlike documents. But determination is thing of substance to investigate: the National Archives and Records Administration has been forthright since the 1990s astir wherever it temporarily stored Bush documents earlier his imperishable room opened. In fact, the NARA authoritative who was successful complaint of the modulation of the Bush documents to the imperishable room publicly joked astir the impermanent installation astatine the time.

“I’ve told reporters this for the past 4 years: It’s not conscionable a bowling alley; it’s a bowling alley and a Chinese restaurant,” David Alsobrook said.

While the impermanent College Station, Texas, determination made for a amusive story, determination was thing antithetic astir NARA’s usage of specified a building. NARA needs tons of abstraction to location statesmanlike documents earlier presidents’ imperishable libraries are built, truthful it finds and modifies ample adjacent facilities that often person formerly housed different activities.

Someone listening to Trump’s rally comments mightiness person pictured documents from the archetypal Bush medication being scattered carelessly successful bowling lanes. But that’s not what happened. The Washington Post reported successful 1993: “There aren’t immoderate lanes anymore. No gutters, nary pins, nary beer. Thanks to a unreserved remodeling occupation aft past November’s election, determination are a fewer elemental offices, a massive, fire-resistant vault and enactment aft enactment of alloy shelves filled with cardboard boxes and woody crates.”

As NARA’s Tuesday connection said, there was besides extended security. The Associated Press reported successful 1994: “Uniformed guards patrol the premises. There are closed-circuit tv monitors and blase physics detectors on walls and doors. Some printed worldly is classified and volition stay truthful for years; it is unfastened lone to those with top-secret clearances.”

Robert Holzweiss, who began moving connected the George H.W. Bush room successful 1996 and is present lawman director, told People magazine for an nonfiction successful aboriginal 2022: “When I got progressive the impermanent installation for the Bush depository was successful College Station, Texas, successful an aged bowling alley. Without the alleys it was perfect, it was similar a warehouse. They conscionable built a unafraid abstraction wrong to location the classified material.”

Bush died successful 2018. His lad Jeb Bush, the erstwhile Florida politician who ran against Trump successful 2016 for the Republican statesmanlike nomination, wrote connected Twitter successful effect to Trump’s claims astir the precocious president: “I americium truthful confused. My dada enjoyed a bully Chinese repast and enjoyed the situation of 7 10 split. What the heck is up with you?”

Trump’s rally claims astir erstwhile presidents Clinton and George W. Bush are mendacious for the nonstop aforesaid crushed arsenic Trump’s claims astir Obama and the elder Bush are false.

That erstwhile Balch Motor Company gathering successful Little Rock, Arkansas, wherever millions of Clinton statesmanlike documents were stored? Again, it was the National Archives and Records Administration that took the documents to this facility, which NARA managed, successful beforehand of the opening of Clinton’s room successful the aforesaid city.

That warehouse successful Lewisville, Texas wherever millions of the younger Bush’s statesmanlike documents were stored? It was a NARA-managed facility, utilized to store documents portion Bush’s permanent library was being readied successful adjacent Dallas.

Update: This nonfiction has been updated to adhd NARA’s Tuesday statement.