A terribly named bill would make it illegal to destroy a presidential tweet
President Trump’s twitter habit has been a force for chaos since the early days of the campaign — but now, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) has a plan to make sure those tweets end up in a permanent archive. Named after one of Trump’s most bewildering tweets, the COVFEFE Act (short for Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement) would amend the Presidential Records Act to include social media as a documentary material. The proposal has a long way to go, but if it passes, it would result in a legal requirement to ensure all @POTUS tweets, direct messages, and Facebook posts end up in the presidential archive — even if they’re deleted from the service itself.
Maintaining those tweets is particularly urgent, as the president’s...