Just when political journalists thought they’d heard it all, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman unveiled perhaps the bizarrest scoop in her years-long reporting of Donald Trump and his administration.
In February Haberman, who has long had unprecedented access to many in Donald Trump’s inner circle and greater White House staff, reported on Twitter a factoid from her upcoming book Confidence Man: aides to Donald Trump “regularly” discovered what appeared to be notes or documents of some sort torn up and stuffed in White House toilets apparently in attempts to destroy them.
Throughout a presidency that was highlighted by betrayals, feuds, and public moments that shocked the American political sphere, the reporting still managed to stand out as a jaw-dropping revelation that distinguished itself with its clumsy and cartoonish depiction of the president.
Here’s everything we know so far about Toiletgate and the alleged attempted use of White House plumbing as a document disposal method:
Photos emerged of the alleged deed
On 8 August Haberman followed up her February scoop with evidence: specifically, two pictures of toilets with pieces of paper submerged in the bowls, where White House aides discovered supposed attempts by someone to flush them without success.
No wider view of the bathrooms in question were supplied, so there’s no real way to know if the toilets in question are in the White House or not. Haberman supplied the photos to Axios on Monday as part of promotional coverage of her book, and supplied little other context for them.
Some of the episodes were alleged to have occurred while Mr Trump was abroad, adding a measure of mystery to the puzzle of where the toilets in question could be found.
But Haberman’s stellar track record of reporting on Mr Trump and his associates speaks for itself, and she verified that she had given the photos to Axios on Twitter on Monday.
She also claims that the episodes were not a secret within the White House, though many still did not know. Theoretically, that means one of the many ex-White House officials who have spurned the former president since leaving their posts could verify the reporting.
“That Mr. Trump was discarding documents this way was not widely known within the West Wing, but some aides were aware of the habit, which he engaged in repeatedly,” she told Axios in a short statement published with the photos.
“It was an extension of Trump’s term-long habit of ripping up documents that were supposed to be preserved under the Presidential Records Act,” Haberman continued.
One of the two photos shows a note that is unreadable. The other shows a submerged piece of paper in which the name “Stefanik”, referring to New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, is written alongside “Rogers”, apparently referring to Congressman Hal Rogers. Both are Republicans.
The notes, if real, are almost certainly authored by Donald Trump
The handwriting and use of Sharpie on the notes are dead giveaways: if the notes were found in toilets by White House staff, they were likely written by the president himself. White House aides were not known to have adopted their boss’s rare practice, which he reportedly began long before taking office.
Trump has denied it
Donald Trump, as has been the case with almost every major scoop revealing an embarrassing fact about his presidency, has denied ever flushing documents down the toilet.
He reiterated that denial through a spokesperson following the publication of photos of the alleged deeds by Axios in early August.
"You have to be pretty desperate to sell books if pictures of paper in a toilet bowl is part of your promotional plan,” Taylor Budowich told the news outlet.
"We know ... there's enough people willing to fabricate stories like this in order to impress the media class — a media class who is willing to run with anything, as long as it anti-Trump,” he added.
