President Trump has horrible record on conformity with the law as far blocking documents involving investigations. I’m sure other Presidents have done the same but this President seems to be on par with Al Capone. What could he and his administration be concerned about to look so poorly?
He doesn’t want it to get out that they orchestrated the insurrection.
I don’t think he’s conscious of exactly what he did wrong on that day. His moral standards defines “right” and “wrong” simply as whatever is good for Trump or bad for Trump. He understands that his private misdeeds are frequently embarrassing or legally risky, but he doesn’t understand why, so he simply hides everything.
If you’re asking factually what he did that day, we’re not going to know until the select committee exposes everything. It seems clear enough that he intentionally incited a mob to disrupt the electoral count so that Republicans could take control of it. So we’re looking for smoking guns of where he actually expressed that intent, and who he was working with, the extent to which the riot was pre-meditated, and the extent of Trump and his cronies in encouraging, planning, and funding it. There’s the question of how far this thing was supposed to go… detonating pipe bombs, hanging Mike Pence and other members of Congress, and who authorized that.
It seems pretty clear that Trump is capable of all these things (or more likely, influencing others to do it). That’s what he’s trying to hide.
I don’t think he’s worried about the content of the records. The man has no shame and very little understanding of what the rest of the world considers immoral or illegal. Take his “perfect” call with Ukraine for instance.
What I think he does have is a massive chip on his shoulder about being treated unfairly and being persecuted by the terrible Dems. And he very much like the trappings of the presidency, such as power to pardon and executive privelege. His lawyers and the lawyers of his henchpeople have played up this latter power and when it’s not being respected to the level he considers appropriate (which is “whatever I say”) it’s an insult against “The Greatest President” ever, and, less importantly, against Amerikuh!
I don’t think he ever really thought that call was “perfect.” He’s just a con man, always putting on the spin. He just boldly says things that aren’t true, and gets some people to believe.
No, I think he’s scared. He may not actually understand exactly why what he did was wrong, but he knows that he has to try and cover it up, just like he’s always done. He’s not some Machiavellian, but he can read the room, and knows how people reacted.
Don’t get me wrong: the idea that it’s “unfair” also applies, but I think that’s more because he assumes everyone would do what he’s done—or at least would if they were as “smart” as he was.
He has no concept of right and wrong. But he knows that if evidence is suppressed, it can’t be used against him. So even in his deluded mind, it’s logical to not cooperate with any investigation ever.
I’m sure he has no idea what the national archives are, or even that things he did or said may have become records. This is probably a shock to him. And kind of a surprise to me since he operates like a mafia crime boss. There may be nothing at all to look at.
“Is you taking notes on a criminal fucking conspiracy??”
We can hope a few people did.
He took a few lessons from Stringer Bell.
Too bad he missed the lessons about actually being good at your job.
ETA: Damn, ninja’d!
I agree with this. I do believe that, as a businessperson, he absolutely understood that there were things that he did which were against the law, but because they were “good for Trump,” he had no problem with doing them; he (and his organization) simply became very good at obscuring things, burying the evidence with hundreds of shell companies, and suing anyone who started to poke around – in his mind, this is exactly what a “smart person” would do.
He tried to do exactly the same as President, with the bonus assumption of “now that I’m President, I can do anything I want!”, and he’s now finding that maybe that was not the case.
Let’s not forget this great bit From early in his term:
Before he was elected, Trump routinely destroyed any written notes that people made of discussions, and he tried to continue doing that once in office. He never seemed to figure out that this was illegal, even if the people around him managed to curtail this habit.
Now that the notes exist, he’s beyond annoyed that they can be used against him.
Why is he concerned about his records? He is facing criminal charges on several fronts. It’s the same reason he didn’t turn over his tax records, even when ordered to do so by the Supreme Court. Is this a real question?
This. And they fucked it up, much like Trump has fucked up everything he touched.
There’s a difference between being ashamed of something (which he is not at all about those records), and understanding the danger of other people having proof of what he actually said/did.
His whole life and self image has been about getting everyone to believe in his version of reality. Facts get in the way of that. He’ll hide the facts about his actual golf scores, income, health records, relationship details, education, IQ, just as much as his criminal dealings. To him it’s all pretty much the same. Hide all reality, and broadcast nothing but the message he wants people to hear.
Think Nixon. What did he have to fear about the tapes he tried to protect? The reality!
It’s hard to know whether Trump is trying to hide something specific, or whether he’s just trying to keep information from that day secret. Think about his tax returns. He pays accountants to make sure that whatever he does is legal enough so that he won’t be prosecuted. The IRS has his tax returns and they haven’t done anything about them yet. He doesn’t want his sworn enemies to have access to his tax information because it will make him look bad, so he’s trying to keep it hidden. I think it’s the same thing with Jan 6th. Whether he actually did anything wrong that day it will certainly make him look bad so just hide it. That’s been his go-to strategy since day one, and his loyal cronies will do everything in their power to protect that information from ever getting out, even if that means going to jail. Their motto is “whatever happens, don’t ever let Trump look bad”.
Imagine what must have been on the missing 18 miutes.