Images allegedly depicting Donald Trump’s toilets clogged with torn-up pieces of paper have emerged after the former president denied claims he would flush official documents during his time in the White House.
Maggie Haberman, a New York Times White House correspondent who closely followed Trump during his presidency for an upcoming book, claimed to have obtained pictures of presidential notes stuffed into the residence toilets from a former White House official who worked under the previous administration.
The images published by Axios on Monday purportedly show two sets of notes in the toilets, one of which is said to be located in a White House bathroom, and the other in an undisclosed location abroad during a foreign presidential trip – though the papers appeared to be handwritten rather than official documents.
One of the ripped up papers on top of a stack in the toilet shows what appears to be lawmakers names scrawled down in all capital letters in black sharpie.
Two names can be seen clearly on the paper – Rogers and Stefanik – although the rest of the torn up papers are mostly illegible.
It’s likely the names are referencing Republican Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama and GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, a Trump defender.
Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich told Axios this week: ‘You have to be pretty desperate to sell books if pictures of paper in a toilet bowl is part of your promotional plan.’
‘There’s enough people willing to fabricate stories like this in order to impress the media class — a media class who is willing to run with anything, as long as it anti-Trump,’ he added.
Trump also previously dismissed allegations he was prone to ripping up White House documents when Haberman first tweeted about the alleged incidents in February.
Maggie Haberman, a New York Times White House correspondent who closely followed Trump during his presidency for an upcoming book, claimed to have obtained pictures of handwritten notes stuffed into the bowls. She says this image is from a White House toilet
The images published by Axios purportedly show two sets of notes in the toilets, though they do not appear to be official documents. This image, Haberman claims, is from a toilet on an overseas trip
‘Here’s some reporting from the book’s later years — White House residence staff periodically found papers had clogged a toilet, leaving staff believing Trump had flushed material he’d ripped into pieces,’ the author said amid promotion of her book Confidence Man which is set for release in October.
Haberman, after Axios released the exclusive images, said that ‘gross and important’ are two good words to describe the revelations that there is image proof of the torn up documents in toilet bowls.
She also dismissed puns surrounding her reporting, claiming that despite the comical instrument used to destroy the document, the issue is no laughing matter.
‘It would still be a story if it was a fireplace,’ Haberman told CNN’s New Day on Monday. ‘The point is about the destruction of records which are supposed to be preserved under the presidential records act, which is a Watergate-era creation.’
‘I have had additional reporting afterwards from people confirming that Trump had indeed done this and that it happened on at least two foreign trips, and in the White House throughout his presidency,’ Haberman continued.
‘Again, it’s important because who knows what this paper was? Only he would know and presumably whoever was dealing with him, but the important point is about the records.’
Trump quickly refuted the claims back when they first came out in February. He declared the story ‘categorically untrue and simply made up by a reporter in order to get publicity for a mostly fictitious book.’
He also referred to Haberman as ‘Maggot’ as a play on her name Maggie.
DailyMail.com has contacted Trump’s office for comment.
Trump previously dismissed allegations he was prone to ripping up official documents in February, when Haberman first tweeted the allegations. Donald Trump on Saturday dropped his strongest hint yet of a potential 2024 presidential bid
New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman (pictured) said White House staff would routinely find papers clogging up toilet bowls
In response to the reports earlier this year of flushing documents, Congress opened an investigation in February into Trump’s handling of White House records.
A new frequently repeated line from Trump claims that he is the most persecuted man in America.
‘A friend of mine once said that I was the most persecuted person in the history of our country,’ the former president said at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida last month. ‘I never thought of it that way. I never had time. I was always fighting these people that were trying to persecute me.’
He doubled down on the claim during the same remarks: ‘I didn’t have time to think about getting persecuted because I was fighting persecution. Certainly, there’s been no politician or president treated like I’ve been treated.’
The former president said earlier this year that he ‘openly and willingly’ handed over boxes of documents he took from the White House to the National Archives following reports he improperly handled papers.
Officials recovered 15 boxes of White House materials from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence – in apparent contravention of federal records acts.
There has been no conclusive proof that Trump flushed official White House documents or otherwise during his time in office.
But the National Archives, which obtains a full set of all presidential documents and records for safekeeping at the end of each president’s administration, said in February that Trump returned 15 boxes of documents he had ‘improperly removed’ from the White House at the end of his term in office.
The archives said the trove included ‘items marked as classified national security information’.
A federal law called the US Presidential Records Act requires the preservation of memos, letters, notes, emails, faxes and other written communications related to a president’s official duties, and federal prosecutors are now investigating whether Trump mishandled classified records.
Budowich said at the time: ‘President Trump consistently handled all documents in accordance with applicable law and regulations. Belated attempts to second-guess that clear fact are politically motivated and misguided.’
Trump previously confirmed that he agreed to return certain records to the Archives, calling it ‘an ordinary and routine process.’
The archives also alleged that government officials were forced to tape back together some White House documents for preservation after the former president tore them up while he was in office.
Haberman’s book covering Donald Trump’s rise to the presidency and time in office will be released in October
Trump pictured July 20, 2020 with papers in front of him at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. The U.S. Presidential Records Act requires the preservation of memos, letters, notes, emails, faxes and other written communications related to a president’s official duties
It comes as Trump this weekend told fellow Republicans ‘the time is coming’ for him to make a formal announcement about whether he intends to make another bid for a second term in the White House.
Trump said during his near-two-hour-long remarks Saturday that he believes ‘people are going to be very happy’ with his decision while noting that America has ‘lost everything’ under Biden’s leadership.
Giving the keynote address at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas, the former president confirmed he will be making his plans to run for office public in the near future.
‘It’s certainly not a very long period, the time is coming,’ Trump said Saturday in response to questions from Fox News.
‘I think people are going to be very happy, our country has never been in a position like this, we’ve lost everything.’
He argued the nation was facing both domestic and foreign policy crises, stating America lost its ‘prestige’ when Biden withdrew US troops from Afghanistan last year.
‘Our country has never been at a worse point,’ Trump said.
‘They gave away $85 billion worth of equipment, dead soldiers, you still have Americans over there probably as hostages, eventually will be hostages, there has never been a time like this.’
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