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Trump White House Staff Use of ‘Disappearing’ Messaging App Violates Presidential Records Act

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Staffers Fearful of Being Accused of Leaking in White House Flooded by Leaks

White House political appointees, staff, and other Trump administration officials have been using the messaging app Confide, which would be in violation of the Presidential Records Act, (44 U.S.C. Chapter 22). The use of the “disappearing” messaging app is an apparent effort to avoid being accused of leaks to the media and others, which have bedeviled and angered the President as well his senior advisers.

First reported by the web publication Axios February 8 and Monday by the Washington Post, staffers are using Confide, a three-year-old chat app that encrypts messages end-to-end, meaning only the sender and recipient can read them. In the interview with Axios, Confide’s co-founder and chief product officer Jeff Grossman told the news site that the app uses its own encryption protocol, which is similar to the PGP standard many people have used for their emails. Jon Brod, another co-founder and the company’s president, noted that by default the app deletes messages after they are read. “We immediately delete them from our servers and wipe them from the device,” he said. 

According to a source inside the administration who spoke with NCRM Tuesday, there is a perpetual state of chaos and infighting that, coupled with leaks to media outlets, has created a sense of fear of discovery and paranoia among the staff. Those leaks in turn have exasperated the president. Trump has ordered an investigation into the sources of those stories, including his phone calls with foreign heads of state, that have been widely reported. 

On Tuesday, in an apparent attempt to change the national conversation of the Michael Flynn scandal, President Trump posted this tweet:

The Post further reported, “The chaos and competing factions that were a Trump trademark in business and campaigning now are starting to define his presidency, according to interviews with a dozen White House officials as well as other Republicans.”

The use of any apps which offer message destruction such as Confide, Telegram, Signal, and Snapchat, (also offers ephemeral messages), appears to be a violation of the Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978, 44 U.S.C. ß2201-2209, which governs the official records of Presidents and Vice Presidents created or received after January 20, 1981. In particular § 2209, the disclosure requirements for official business conducted using non-official electronic messaging accounts:

(a) In General- The President, the Vice President, or a covered employee may not create or send a Presidential or Vice Presidential record using a non-official electronic message account unless the President, Vice President, or covered employee–

(1) copies an official electronic messaging account of the President, Vice President, or covered employee in the original creation or transmission of the Presidential record or Vice Presidential record; or

(2) forwards a complete copy of the Presidential or Vice Presidential record to an official electronic messaging account of the President, Vice President, or covered employee not later than 20 days after the original creation or transmission of the Presidential or Vice Presidential record

Axios spoke with “one influential GOP operative” who told them that he favored the fact that Confide makes it harder to take a screenshot—”you have to slide your fingers over text and it only captures a portion of the screen,” Axios reports. He also likes the integration with iMessage, allowing him to write self-destructing encrypted messages within the confines of the iPhone’s standard-issue messaging platform.

He added that Republicans like him are especially paranoid about their communications after Hillary Clinton’s email scandal. “For folks that are on the inside in this city, it provides some cover,” he said.

A White House spokesperson declined to comment Tuesday afternoon on the Axios and Post stories.  The administration official who spoke with NCRM Tuesday said he wasn’t shocked by the staff use of the apps, and wryly noted that with the level of ignorance that “runs rampant in the West Wing and Old EOB,” [Eisenhower Executive Office Building] regarding what is permissible and legal governing staff actions, coupled with the “chaotic paranoid atmosphere surrounding this president,” the use of apps that appear to violate the law is “almost to be expected.”

Brody Levesque is the Chief Political Correspondent for The New Civil Rights Movement.
You may contact Brody at Brody.Levesque@thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.

 

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Democrats Demand Noem Testify After Handcuffing of US Senator Padilla

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June 12, 2025

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Outraged and demanding accountability, House Democrats are calling on U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to testify before Congress after her protective detail tackled and handcuffed U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) during a press conference—despite video (below) showing Padilla clearly identifying himself by name, which the Department of Homeland Security now publicly denies.

Politico’s Nicholas Wu reported that California House Democrats are “standing together” on the Capitol steps “in protest” of Senator Padilla’s detention.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Wu reported, said: “we are going to demand is that Kristi Noem come before Congress and testify about what occurred today. Because if it can happen to Alex, it can happen to any of those senators.”

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U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) said on the House steps that he didn’t expect Padilla to be the last lawmaker “accosted by federal law enforcement,” according to Courthouse News’ Benjamin S. Weiss.

“This is what aspiring dictators do,” Swalwell said, as he called on Secretary Noem to testify before Congress “as soon as possible.”

U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) called the takedown and detention of Senator Padilla “despicable.”

Senator Padilla “is the elected representative of 40 million Americans. This Administration is detaining citizens in broad daylight and terrifying our communities, all while refusing to answer questions. I will be calling on Secretary Noem to testify in the House Oversight Committee immediately to explain why she thinks this is acceptable.”

“We aren’t going to be intimidated,” the California Democratic delegation also said on the Capitol steps, NBC News’ Julie Tsirkin reported, adding that U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) called on Noem to “resign.”

Factual details about what transpired were reported by The Associated Press.

READ MORE: ‘Changes Are Coming!’: Trump Appears Stunned to Learn Farms Rely on Undocumented Workers

“Video shows a Secret Service agent on Noem’s security detail grabbing Padilla,” according to the AP, “by his jacket and shoving him from the room as he tried to interrupt Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles.”

“I’m Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Senator Padilla shouted.

“The shocking scene of a U.S. senator being aggressively removed from a Cabinet secretary’s news conference prompted immediate outrage from his Democratic colleagues,” the AP also reported. “Images and video of the scuffle ricocheted through the halls of Congress, where stunned lawmakers demanded an immediate investigation and characterized the episode as another in a line of mounting threats to democracy by President Donald Trump’s administration.”

Politico also reported that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, ”every single person who was involved in manhandling Senator Padilla should be held accountable to the full extent of the law.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Mouthpiece for the Kremlin’: Rubio Scorched for ‘Russia Day’ Congratulations

 

Images via Reuters

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‘Not Today Hegseth’: Dem Slams Defense Secretary as ‘Unfit to Lead’ in Fiery Exchange

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June 12, 2025

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth faced sharp criticism during Thursday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing after he declined to clearly state that Pentagon service members and civilian employees are not required to be supporters of President Donald Trump.

“Do you think political allegiance to Trump is a requirement for serving our nation, either in uniform or a civilian in the Department?” asked U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA).

“I’m incredibly proud as are millions of Americans—” the Secretary began to say.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,” interjected Congressman Carbajal. “Not today, Hegseth.”

READ MORE: ‘Changes Are Coming!’: Trump Appears Stunned to Learn Farms Rely on Undocumented Workers

“Yes or no,” he demanded.

“Congressman,” the Secretary replied, “you know what a silly question that is.”

“But silly enough. A very straightforward answer, yes or no,” the California Democrat insisted.

“We all support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” Hegseth declared.

“You know what? I’m not gonna waste my time anymore,” Carbajal announced. “You’re not worthy of my attention or my questions. You’re an embarrassment to this country, you’re unfit to lead, and there’s been bipartisan members of Congress that have called for your resignation.”

“You should just get the h— out and let somebody competently lead this department,” he continued.

Earlier, Congressman Carbajal chastised Hegseth for “refusing to take responsibility” for his actions.

READ MORE: ‘Mouthpiece for the Kremlin’: Rubio Scorched for ‘Russia Day’ Congratulations

“I didn’t think you were qualified before your confirmation, and you have done nothing to inspire confidence and your ability to lead competently,” Carbajal told Hegseth, who had been refusing to answer “yes” or “no” to several of his questions.

“You broke the law in sharing classified information,” he claimed, “and in doing so, endangered the lives of our service members that you are responsible for. Your inability to hold yourself accountable makes you incapable to lead, to lead,” he stressed. “This alone makes you unfit to be the Secretary of Defense.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘The Generals Stay Silent’: Experts Alarmed as Trump Politicizes Army at Fort Bragg Rally

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‘Changes Are Coming!’: Trump Appears Stunned to Learn Farms Rely on Undocumented Workers

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June 12, 2025

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President Donald Trump acknowledged on Thursday that his aggressive and controversial immigration policies are stripping undocumented immigrants from the farming and agriculture workforce. Now, he declares, “Changes are coming!”

Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, reportedly at the direction of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, have been specifically targeting farms to detain and deport undocumented workers.

“The border is no longer the focus,” Reason reported Wednesday. “Now, the administration seemingly believes that the [immigration] crisis extends to nail salons, hardware stores, farms, and restaurants across the country, where undocumented immigrants who are peacefully exchanging labor for dollars are being targeted.”

The Trump administration “is ramping up immigration raids across the country, and farm workers are no longer being spared. Almost half of the more than 850,000 crop workers in the US are undocumented, the Department of Agriculture estimates,” according to Bloomberg News.

READ MORE: ‘Mouthpiece for the Kremlin’: Rubio Scorched for ‘Russia Day’ Congratulations

One raid at an Omaha, Nebraska, meat plant reportedly netted 70 detentions this week, and now the facility is operating with just one-third of its staff, Bloomberg reported.

President Trump may be hearing some of the many stories.

In a cryptic message on Thursday, he wrote: “Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace. In many cases the Criminals allowed into our Country by the VERY Stupid Biden Open Borders Policy are applying for those jobs. This is not good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!”

He did not provide any details.

Critics mocked Trump.

“The president of the United States is seemingly unaware that his administration recently ordered ICE to round up and deport immigrants who haven’t committed crimes … like those who work in tourism and agriculture,” observed MSNBC columnist Michael A. Cohen, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic Studies.

“Breaking News,” snarked Spencer Hakimian, a hedge fund chief investment officer. “The guy that spent the first 70 years of his life in construction, hospitality, and entertainment, accidentally finds out that our entire labor force runs off of illegal immigration. Oops!”

READ MORE: ‘The Generals Stay Silent’: Experts Alarmed as Trump Politicizes Army at Fort Bragg Rally

“Turns out,” California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote, “chasing hard working people through ranches and farms and snatching women and children off the streets is not good policy.”

But The New Republic’s Greg Sargent took a wider view.

“Trump just admitted that his mass deportations are bad for farmers and the economy, and crucially, also admitted that workers who are getting deported are ‘almost impossible to replace.’ That’s a massive repudiation of MAGA ideology,” Sargent wrote.

“It’s an enormous admission, both that his deportation policies are terrible *and* that he knows they’re awful politics for him,” he added.

“Every prominent Democrat in the country should jump on this immediately,” Sargent urged. “Enough b——- cowering on this issue. Get on this! Trump just handed you a massive weapon. Use it!”

READ MORE: Pride Month Purge: Pentagon Chief Defends Renaming USNS Harvey Milk and Trans Ban

 

Image via Reuters

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