Democrats are launching an effort to ensure that the Trump administration preserves its records after multiple whistleblowers came forward to allege that federal officials were destroying documents related to the president’s construction projects around Washington, D.C.
The effort comes as President Donald Trump races to complete several pet projects across the nation’s capital before Democrats take power in January — and his term expires in two years — including the White House ballroom and East Potomac Park golf course.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California), the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, sent letters to 36 federal agencies and private companies on Monday, ordering them to preserve documents, communications and other records tied to the committee’s investigations of the Trump administration.
The typically under-the-radar committee, which Huffman is set to chair in the new Congress, is responsible for conducting oversight on Trump’s construction projects that sit on federal land.
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“For the past two years, the Trump Administration has repeatedly obstructed congressional investigations by failing to provide the House Committee on Natural Resources with information necessary to fulfill its oversight responsibilities,” Huffman’s letters state.
A committee aide told The Washington Sun that Huffman launched the effort after several whistleblowers came forward to allege that documents related to the projects were being destroyed. It’s unclear what method of destruction officials may have employed or which projects were affected.
The Interior Department, which manages several of Trump’s high-profile renovation projects, said the allegations were “100% false.”
“The Department follows all federal records management obligations as directed by the Department’s ethics officials,” a spokesperson said.
Huffman’s request for document retention signals that Trump’s construction projects are likely to become priorities for oversight once Democrats take over both chambers of Congress in January. While under Republican leadership, the committee has not meaningfully sought to challenge the president’s attempts to reshape the nation’s capital through construction projects, many of which have been operating on expedited timelines.
Huffman’s letters were sent to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Commerce Department and Interior Department. Boeing, Chevron, Deloitte and ExxonMobil Corporation also received notices.
The committee is asking the agencies and companies to issue preservation instructions to relevant custodians, preserve existing records collections and productions, preserve records maintained outside federal systems, identify and recover any deleted information and suspend any destruction and deletion practices.
Recipients are being asked to respond by Nov. 23, certifying compliance with the document preservation request.
Politico previously reported that agency officials have shredded official documents and used disappearing chat messages relating to the projects, potentially in violation of the Freedom of Information Act.
Trump has insisted some of his projects are being funded by private donations. The list of donors for Trump’s flagship ballroom project includes Amazon, Apple, Google, Lockheed Martin and Meta.
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