The initial batch of documents retrieved by the National Archives from former President Donald Trump in January included more than 150 marked as classified, a number that ignited intense concern at the Justice Department.
The initial batch of documents retrieved by the National Archives from former President Donald Trump in January included more than 150 marked as classified, a number that ignited intense concern at the Justice Department and helped trigger the criminal investigation that led FBI agents to swoop into Mar-a-Lago this month seeking to recover more, multiple people briefed on the matter said.
Trump went through the boxes himself in late 2021, according to multiple people briefed on his efforts, before turning them over. It was the second such demand for the club’s security tapes, said the people familiar with the matter, and underscored that authorities are still scrutinizing how the classified documents were handled by Trump and his staff before the search.
National Archives officials spent much of 2021 trying to get back material from Trump, after learning that roughly two dozen boxes of presidential records material had been lingering in the White House residence for several months. Under the Presidential Records Act, all official material remains government property and has to be provided to the archives at the end of a president’s term.
Soon after beginning their investigation early this year, Justice Department officials came to believe there were additional classified documents that they needed to collect. In May, after conducting a series of witness interviews, the department issued a subpoena for the return of remaining classified material, according to people familiar with the episode.
Soon after that visit, investigators, who were interviewing several people in Trump’s circle about the documents, came to believe that there were other presidential records that had not been turned over, according to the people familiar with the matter. In seeking a second round of security footage, the Justice Department wants to review tapes for the weeks leading up to the Aug. 8 search.
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