Government records left in the bathroom stacked in *** ballroom and spilled in *** storage room. The former president is facing 37 charges. 31 counts alleging he kept and refused to return documents marked as classified after leaving office. Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal criminal charges on the mishandling of classified documents claiming he could keep classified documents under the Presidential Records Act, political persecution. But experts say the law contradicts those claims. So what is this act? Originally? Records of the White House were considered the President's personal property. The government did however have full control over the classification status of classified documents. Presidents Hoover through Carter chose to donate their records to the national archives. Turning into *** tradition that wasn't enforced, then came *** scandal. Some of my closest friends and most trusted aides have been charged with involvement in what has come to be known as the Watergate affair resulting in *** call for change. In 1978 Congress enacted the Presidential Records Act as *** way to avoid another Watergate scandal. It changed the ownership of presidential records from the president to the government becoming public property. The law also applies to the vice president while in office, the president holds custody and management of presidential records. Immediately after leaving office, the president transfers the presidential records to the archivist of the United States. The law defines presidential records as documentary materials including electronic records like email and social media posts. These materials relate to the president's duties that are created or received by the president, their immediate staff or *** member of the President's executive office who advises or assists the president. Personal records are defined as diaries or journals that are not prepared, used or communicated for government business. Before leaving office, the president must separate the items. Presidents also do not have the authority to label *** presidential record as *** personal record. The president can dispose of records that don't have administrative historical or informational value. Once the archivist views the request in writing while the law regulates what *** president can do with their documents, no president including Trump has been punished for violating the law. There's also no way of enforcing it. Instead, Trump is charged with violating the espionage act. Federal prosecutors allege the documents he retained had national defense information which relates to national security. We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone.