The Washington Post resorted to using a Disney movie as a reference in an article explaining the significance of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) with regard to the recent FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
The article, titled “Inside Trump’s War on the National Archives,” dug into some of the threats and hate that have reportedly been directed toward NARA in the three weeks since FBI agents raiding Mar-a-Lago and removed a number of boxes of documents that had been stored there.
But while attempting to explain the back-and-forth between the NARA and Trump — who is certainly not the first former president to find himself at odds with the administration over ownership of records — the authors of the article included a reference to Disney’s “National Treasure” in an effort to paint a clearer picture of the Archives.
The Post shared a portion of an internal email from acting archivist Debra Steidel Wall to NARA staffers, which read in part, “NARA has received messages from the public accusing us of corruption and conspiring against the former President, or congratulating NARA for ‘bringing him down.’ Neither is accurate or welcome.”
“The email capped a year-long saga that has embroiled the Archives — widely known for being featured in the 2004 Nicolas Cage movie, ‘National Treasure’ — in a protracted fight with Trump over classified documents and other records that were taken when he left office,” the Post added in the following paragraph.
“This is the funniest possible bit of context to include when explaining what the national archives actually is,” Texas Monthly Senior Editor Dan Solomon said of the reference.
This is the funniest possible bit of context to include when explaining what the national archives actually is pic.twitter.com/Yd9hpqGeDI
— dan solomon (@dansolomon) August 28, 2022
“‘The Archives — widely known for being featured in the 2004 Nicolas Cage movie, ‘National Treasure” is one of the weirder asides I’ve seen in WaPo. Maybe say it’s best known as the home of the Declaration and Constitution. But Nic Cage?” Michael Jacobs added.
"The Archives — widely known for being featured in the 2004 Nicolas Cage movie, 'National Treasure'” is one of the weirder asides I've seen in WaPo. Maybe say it's best known as the home of the Declaration and Constitution. But Nic Cage?https://t.co/jsVvYHqonV pic.twitter.com/EyERODJPia
— (((Michael Jacobs))) (@ChipJake) August 28, 2022
NARA has previously contested the possession of records removed from the White House, arguing that presidential records belong to the United States government.
“Presidential records are the property of the United States government and are administered by the National Archives,” Meghan Ryan Guthorn, acting deputy chief operating officer of the agency explained. “So, all presidential papers, materials and records in the custody of the National Archives, whether donated, seized or governed by the Presidential Records Act, are owned by the federal government.”
(Disclosure: The Daily Wire has announced plans for kids entertainment content.)