 LEGAL Court rejects lawsuit over Trump’s recordkeeping A federal judge says she has no authority to address claims that White House is ignoring records laws U S District Court in Washington D C Alex Wong Getty Images By JOSH GERSTEIN 02 10 2020 11 29 PM EST  A judge has dismissed a lawsuit complaining that President Donald Trump and his aides are failing to maintain legally required records of his meetings with foreign leaders U S District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said legal precedents don't permit her to police the White House's enforcement of the laws that govern the handling of executive branch records the Presidential Records Act and the Federal Records Act Advertisement The Court is bound by Circuit precedent to find that it lacks authority to oversee the President’s day-to-day compliance with the statutory provisions involved in this case wrote Jackson a Washington-based appointee of President Barack Obama In May three organizations — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington the National Security Archive and the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations — sued citing reports that State Department officials were being excluded from high-level White House meetings with foreign officials The groups argued that by sidelining the State officials including language interpreters the White House was violating its obligations to preserve records of key foreign policy activities The suit cited meetings Trump held with leaders from Russia and North Korea as well as talks Trump son-in-law and presidential adviser Jared Kushner held with Saudi officials Jackson said in her 22-page ruling that while she had limited power to examine official written or verbal guidelines on preserving records the suit was fundamentally focused on the White House's actions and not the underlying policies The judge stressed however that she was not blessing the White House's record keeping practices This opinion will not address and should not be interpreted to endorse the challenged practices nor does it include any finding that the Executive Office of the President is in compliance with its obligations Jackson wrote A spokesman for one of the groups behind the suit said lawyers were still considering how to respond to the decision We're obviously disappointed to see today's ruling CREW spokesman Jordan Libowitz said Our legal team is currently reviewing it to determine any potential future action FILED UNDER CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND SHOW MOST READ ETHICS IN WASHINGTON COMMENTS 2020 ELECTIONS 2 IMPEACHMENT 3 Klobuchar roars into contention on eve Trump world’s latest attack on Romney of New Hampshire primary Tie him to Burisma   1 SPONSORED CONTENT Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Hydra-Gel Eye Peter Thomas Roth US Faux Fur Pom Beanie The Frye Company Recommended by Pro-Collagen Neck Décolleté Elemis A G E Interrupter Wrinkle Cream SKINCEUTICALS Cool Technology Replacing Business Phones Yahoo Search About Us Advertising Breaking News Alerts Careers Credit Card Payments Digital Edition FAQ Feedback Headlines Photos POWERJobs Press Print Subscriptions Write For Us RSS Site Map Terms of Service Privacy Policy Do not sell my info © 2020 POLITICO LLC