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Confidence Man: When is Maggie Haberman’s book on Donald Trump coming out?
A new book on the Trump administration is set to be released later this year, claiming that documents were periodically found flushed down a White House toilet.
On Thursday Donald Trump denied allegations made in an upcoming book that he flushed potentially sensitive presidential documents down a White House toilet. The book's author claims that White House staffers found toilets clogged with printed papers on multiple occasions.
The book, ‘Confidence Man’ by Maggie Haberman, is one of a spate of books set to be released by reporters who covered the Trump White House extensively. The book will be published by Penguin Press and is coming out on 4 October 2022.
New York Times reporter Haberman’s coverage of the chaotic Trump White House was “followed obsessively by Trump,” according to Axios. Of the various books on the Trump administration this is the one that has reportedly been the subject of most discussion from aides close to the former President.
In a statement, Trump dismissed the allegations: "Another fake story, that I flushed papers and documents down a White House toilet, is categorically untrue and simply made up by a reporter in order to get publicity for a mostly fictitious book.”
What does the Maggie Haberman book say about Trump flushing documents?
In her forthcoming book, ‘Confidence Man’, Haberman claims that staff in the White House’ private resident would periodically find wads of discarded printed paper blocking a toilet. This led them to believe that the President had been attempting to destroy documents.
In an interview with CNN's New Day on Thursday, Haberman said that she "learned that staff in the White House residence would periodically find the toilet clogged."
She said: "The engineer would have to come and fix it and what the engineer would find would be ... wads of clumped-up printed wet paper.”
Haberman has not confirmed the exact content or purpose of the papers allegedly found in the toilet, saying they could have been anything from "Post-its" or "notes he wrote to himself."
This is far from the first allegation that Trump mishandled sensitive documents during his time in the White House and a similar investigation was launched on the same day that Haberman’s claims were made public.
On Thursday a statement from the House Committee on Oversight and Reform confirmed that it was investigating why 15 boxes of presidential records were recently recovered at Mar-a-Lago, the former President’s current residence.
Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney wrote that she was “deeply concerned” that the records were not handed over to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) when Trump left office, adding that “they appear to have been removed from the White House in violation of the Presidential Records Act (PRA).”