The recent Signal chat debacle involved topmost Trump officials mistakenly sharing classified, real-time American attack planning with a journalist, followed by spinning and lying to Congress in a feckless attempt to excuse their monumental oops.

Thoroughly bad. But it gets even worse.

As The Atlantic reported, senior Trump officials configured the Signal chat to auto “delete” their messages after as little as one week.

Why? Clearly they intended, and expected, the messages would permanently disappear.

So what? Well, the Federal Records Act governs the creation, management and disposal of “records” by federal agencies. The planned “delete” is a blatant violation of law.

American Oversight, a non-profit, open records watchdog, has filed suit seeking to prevent the Trump officials’ plan to “delete” these important government records.

Who cares? I do, and hopefully so do you, reader, whether your politics are far right, middle road, far left, or anywhere in between. Government transparency is a bedrock principle supporting democracy. Sunshine brings accountability.

Andrew Foster

Piercefield