Judge orders White House to preserve presidential records, text messages

A federal judge has ordered the White House to preserve all presidential records, including text messages exchanged among top officials, blocking an administration effort to declare a key transparency law unconstitutional. The ruling by Judge John D. Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is set to take effect on Tuesday.

The decision temporarily halts a Justice Department memo and subsequent White House guidance issued in April that maintained presidential records were private property and that officials did not need to comply with the Presidential Records Act. That 1978 law, enacted after the Watergate scandal, requires the safeguarding of all documents chronicling a president's official duties. Judge Bates, in a 54-page opinion, wrote that Congress has the constitutional power to regulate presidential records and that the administration's position relied on a misreading of legal precedent.

"While the presidency is a singularly important institution, that gravity does not free it from modest constraint," Judge Bates wrote. He added that Congress had validly determined the act helps maintain public trust "by shining some light on the activities of the...