'Illegally removed': House Dems direct National Archives to review records to determine if Trump has more

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13 September 2022

The Chair of the House Oversight Committee is asking the National Archives to conduct a review of all the presidential records it has from the Trump White House to determine if any remain missing, including ones the former president “illegally removed.”

The Washington Post was the first to report on the letter, which cites Trump’s “dangerous decision to retain these sensitive government records in non-secure locations at his Mar-a-Lago Club,” and “revelations that Mr. Trump’s representatives misled investigators about his continued possession of government property and that material found at his club included dozens of ’empty folders’ for classified material.”

Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) tells the Acting Archivist of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Debra Steidel Wall, that she is “deeply concerned that sensitive presidential records may remain out of the control and custody of the U.S. Government.”

“In light of the serious risk that Mr. Trump may still be retaining sensitive government records at Mar-a-Lago or his other properties, I urge NARA to seek a personal certification from Donald Trump that he has surrendered all presidential records that he illegally removed from the White House after leaving office,” Chair Maloney states.

“I also ask that the agency conduct an urgent review of presidential records recovered from the Trump White House to assess whether presidential records remain unaccounted for and potentially in the possession of the former president.”

Many have wondered if Trump stashed other government records, including classified documents, at any of his other properties. Both Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen, and former National Security Advisor John Bolton have suggested he might.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more highly classified documents at Bedminster or some some other residence of his,” Bolton said two weeks ago. That same day Cohen tweeted, “I believe #Trump has copies, potentially other documents as well, at other locations including his children’s homes, Weisselberg’s florida home, Bedminster, NJ golf course, Fifth Avenue apartment, etc…”

In her letter, Maloney adds that the “written certification” from Trump “that he has surrendered all presidential records or classified materials,” should include this important component: that he “has not made any copies or reproductions of such materials, and has not transferred any records or government documents to any party other than NARA or DOJ since his term ended.”

As legal experts have noted, it is the information in the documents that is classified.

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