According to the U.S. Archives agency, classified documents were found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
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The National Archives and Records Administration announced Friday that 15 boxes of White House records stored at the former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago house contained items classified as national security information. According to the agency, the matter was referred to Justice Department.
The National Archives responded to a February 9th letter to the House oversight and reform committee. They confirmed that Trump had taken government records to Florida with him after his January 2021 departure.
The House lawmakers opened an investigation. According to reports, the National Archives asked the Justice Department for an investigation. The FBI and the Justice Department have yet to say what they will do, if any.
The archivists wrote that certain records from social media had not been captured and kept by the Trump administration.
It also said that the agency learned White House staff frequently conducted official business using unofficial messaging accounts and personal phones.
According to the Presidential Records Act, those staff members did not copy or send their official messaging lists.
Further, the letter reveals that after Trump left his White House, the National Archives found that additional paper records had been taken by the former President and were transferred to the agency.
The letter stated that while some records were taped and recovered by White House staff under the Trump Administration, others that had been transferred have not been reconstructed.
New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who is the Chair of the House Oversight Committee, stated last week that Trump was required by law to hand over the documents to National Archives before he leaves office. The statement also indicated that lawmakers are looking for information about the contents in the boxes found at Mar-a-Lago.
Responding to her question about the contents, the agency stated that the records act was what kept them from being divulged.
Congress obsessively examined Hillary Clinton’s private email server use.<br> <br>Trump’s conduct, in contrast, involves potential violations of criminal law by intentionally removing records from the WH and reportedly attempting to destroy records.
—@RepMaloney
The Washington Post reported that Trump’s archivist had asked the Justice Department for an investigation into the discovery of 15 boxes of White House documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, Palm Beach, Fla. The Washington Post also noted that Trump used to tear up both mundane and sensitive records in his office.
Investigators will examine whether Trump’s actions in his first term and thereafter violated the Presidential Records Act. It was established in 1978, after Richard Nixon, the former president, wanted to destroy documents relating to Watergate.
The law requires that the presidential records be the property of the U.S. government and not the president.
It is also a crime to conceal, or to intentionally destroy, government records, which can be punished by up to 3 years imprisonment.
