Donald Trump Removed Classified Documents From the White House- National Archives

Donald Trump Removed Classified Documents From the White House- National Archives

The National Archives said Friday that records removed from the White House by former President Donald Trump in early 2021 contained classified national security material and that it has informed the Justice Department about the situation.

The agency “has identified items marked as classified national security information within the boxes” that Trump stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. Fla., the National Archives and Records Administration said in a letter to Rep, Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.

The letter – signed by David S. Ferriero, the national archivist – also said that “because NARA identified classified information in the boxes, NARA staff has been in communication with the Department of Justice.”

The Archives did not provide any information on its interactions with Justice Department authorities or the nature of the sensitive materials maintained in Florida by Trump.

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Maloney, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, has urged the National Archives and the Justice Department to look into whether Trump broke the Presidential Records Act. When a chief executive leaves office, he or she is required by law to give overall official records.

After receiving the response from the Archives, Maloney said “these new revelations deepen my concern about former President Trump’s flagrant disregard for federal records laws and the potential impact on our historical record.”

The Justice Department has yet to respond to the Archives’ revelations. Trump took 15 cartons of records to Mar-a-Lago when he departed the White House on Jan. 20, 2021, according to the National Archives.

The boxes were recovered after “collaborative and polite discussions” with the National Archives, according to Trump, who denied any misconduct in keeping part of his records.

“It was viewed as routine and ‘no big deal,’” Trump said in a statement last week. “In actuality, I have been told I was under no obligation to give this material based on various legal rulings that have been made over the years.”

While the letter said the Archives “is in the process of inventorying the contents of the boxes,” it also said officials are still trying to recover more Trump administration records.

That includes some “non-official electronic messaging accounts” used by some staff members that “we’re not copied or forwarded into their official electronic messaging accounts.”

Hillary Clinton‘s use of private email during her service as Secretary of State was a point of contention for Trump and his supporters during the 2016 election.

The National Archives also announced that it has “identified certain social media records that were not captured and preserved by the Trump Administration.”

The Archives revealed in a letter to Congress that materials retrieved from Trump included papers that had been ripped up and taped back together by the president.

The letter added that “several other torn-up records that were transferred had not been reconstructed by the White House.”