1. As one who has worked extensively in presidential papers, government documents, etc. in the five years I spent researching in the Reagan Presidential Library and Archives, I can tell you you don’t know what you “have.”
2. Just as an example, when you to in to request any docs that you think you’re interested in-—say, the Iran-Contra Affair-—(and I’m NOT saying Trump goes through this process, rather, I’m making a point of what the documents look like)-—you fill out forms for documents that you “think” have what you want.
99% of these are pure meaningless gubment paper exchanges, “Thank you for your . . . will get back to you.” Many of them are intradepartmental that the Pres is copied on. Utter boring, useless stuff.
3. For something like Iran Contra in the index (again, Trump wouldn’t have this, but it’s just for an example of what is there), I would order two pages of document COLLECTIONS by box.
4. Each box contained perhaps 200 documents. Important or relevant docs out of perhaps 20 boxes, or 4,000 documents, would come to, IF LUCKY five.
5. In other words, Trump absolutely DOES “have it” but unless he knows exactly the docs he needs and has taken them by box/folder number, he wouldn’t be able to access them.
6. Does anyone think Trump has a team of people, even lawyers, sifting through all these? No. They are too busy filing motions, looking at Smith’s evidence, etc.
7. My point is, it’s not like he has a couple of folders with all the “right” docs in his possession. That’s why historians go over this stuff for DECADES and it only dribbles out a little at a time. Moreover, there are documents that Trump never saw, because a CoS or someone else could sign off on them-—or worse, a anti-Trump subordinate HID them. (think Ollie North, who lied about what he showed Reagan-—Reagan’s signature or initials were NEVER on any of the Iran-Contra docs that were condemning).