Tracing paper
FBI agents raided Donald Trump’s estate in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, in search of papers he is accused of removing illegally from the White House. What are the rules?
— The Presidential Records Act, passed in 1978 in the wake of Watergate, makes clear that documents relating to a president’s time in office are public property. They may not be destroyed or removed from the White House except with the written permission of the US archivist, which may be given if the records are no longer deemed to have historical or evidential value.
— The public can obtain access to the records under freedom of information laws five years after a president has left office.
However, in limited circumstances a former president can delay that for up to 12 years.
— Anyone with a conviction relating to public records is debarred from the right to access original records.
Mother country
More than a quarter of live births in England and Wales last year were to mothers born outside the UK.
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