Cheryl Teh
Tue, August 9, 2022
A man who helped Trump write a book has a theory on why Trump may have taken White House documents.
Charles Leerhsen thought Trump may have taken documents to sell as "presidential memorabilia."
"If there's a grift to be grifted, he's gonna grift it," Charles Leerhsen told Newsweek.
An author who once helped Trump write some of his books has a theory on why the former president could have taken some documents from the White House.
Charles Leerhsen, who worked with the former president in the 90s on his book, "Surviving at the Top," weighed in on the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago on Monday.
The FBI search is thought to be over material that Trump may have brought to his Florida residence after leaving the White House. The National Archives asked the DOJ in February to investigate whether or not Trump broke the law by taking government records from the White House to Mar-a-Lago.
Leerhsen wrote on Facebook his theory about why Trump could have taken documents.
"As a former Trump ghostwriter (mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa) I feel obligated to point out that Trump may have taken documents that he intended to sell as presidential memorabilia," Leerhsen said.
Speaking to Newsweek, Leerhsen said that he had seen how Trump earned his money even before going into politics, adding that the former president is not above "groveling." Leerhsen acknowledged, per Newsweek's reporting, that he did not know what Trump may or may not have taken, but speculated that pieces of paper he signed or collectible items could be things the former president may have wanted to keep.
"If there's a grift to be grifted, he's gonna grift it," Leerhsen told Newsweek. "He has this very basic sense that he might be able to pawn it off on someone."
He added that he once had a "firsthand sense" of Trump's "avariciousness and his personality."
"Like everyone else, I watched things get worse and spiral out of control," Leerhsen told Newsweek.
Leerhsen and representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
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