Alyssa Farah Griffin Saw Trump 'Tearing Up Documents,' But Never Flushing Anything

The View lucked out Thursday morning when guest co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin, the White House communications director under Trump, was able to directly address reports that the former president flushed important documents down the toilet. While Griffin "did not see him flush anything," as The New York Times' Maggie Haberman reports in her new book, she said that she did witness Trump "tearing up documents," and she confirmed that his aides would destroy "sensitive but not classified" papers in burn bags, both of which violate archival protocol.

"Trump clogs White House toilets by flushing sensitive documents" is practically The View catnip, so it was no surprise that the Hot Topic received top billing this morning. "Oh, this is a fun topic," said fill-in moderator Joy Behar, before she even introduced Haberman's story. She added that toilets were "a recurring theme in his presidency," before playing a montage of Trump discussing commodes throughout his time in office. "He's anal retentive," joked Behar. "That is mesmerizing, right up there with — what was JFK's speech? 'Ask not what you can do for your toilet.'"

When Behar got through her jokes, she threw the discussion to Griffin (who was Alyssa Farah during her time in the White House, but has since gotten married and changed her name), asking, "Alyssa, you worked in Trump's White House. Have you ever seen his bathroom, number one, and did you see him flush anything down that toilet?"

"Well, thank heavens I never saw his bathroom," replied Griffin. "I did not see him flush anything. There has been some previous reporting, though, about him tearing up documents and then the Staff Secretary, who oversees archiving, would have to go back and piece it together. That I did see. That was common. But not from the toilet."

"What's interesting to me is, what would be on those documents that you would be like, 'This has to go down the toilet?' That's the question I think we're all dying to know the answer to," she continued. "But let me say this. I do have to say as a Republican — I hold a top-secret security clearance, I know how to handle classified information. It was wrong when Hillary Clinton destroyed classified federal documents, and it's absolutely wrong when Donald Trump does. I'm just shocked he went a step further, not just BleachBitting it, but sticking it down the toilet, which is something else."

BOOK CLAIMS DOCUMENTS CLOGGED WHITE HOUSE TOILET: With National Archive officials already asking the Justice Dept. to investigate former Pres. Trump's handling of White House records, #TheView discusses reporting from journalist Maggie Haberman's new book. https://t.co/qJYXyw0pD6 pic.twitter.com/Om8NQQayza

— The View (@TheView) February 10, 2022

When Sunny Hostin brought up a report that claimed Trump's "aides used burn bags to destroy documents," Griffin confirmed as much. "A burn bag is what we would have for documents that were sensitive but not classified. You were told to put them in and then they'd be collected at night so that they were properly destroyed," she explained. "That did not mean, though, that you were supposed to destroy them. They went through an archiving process."

A few minutes later, Hostin addressed Griffin's point about Hillary Clinton, which was initially ignored, save for a lone question from Joy Behar. "I don't think this is similar to Hillary Clinton. I do not think it's similar," said Hostin. "One, he was the president, and he's flushing things down the toilet. Yes, she had her server and decisions were made, but it's like comparing apples and orangutans. You cannot compare the two."

"The issue is the classification," replied Griffin. "That's the one area where I think it's really concerning. When she was secretary of state, some of the documents were marked 'Classified.' Those you have to handle a certain way."

Still, Griffin was clear that the Trump allegations create an issue for the GOP. "It takes away from the point Republicans like myself have made for so long — Hillary mishandled this," she said. "Well, then he goes even further and flushes things down the toilet. It just takes away our point."

Thursday marked Farah's third and final day on The View, but all signs point to her returning — either for a third try-out, or in a more permanent capacity. Only time will tell...

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.