The National Archives has asked the Department of Justice to investigate how Donald Trump handled White House records after officials recovered 15 boxes of material from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
National Archives requests DOJ investigation of Trump’s handling of White House records
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has received a request from the national archives to investigate how former President Donald Trump handled White House records. The Archives received 15 boxes of materials from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence that weren’t returned to the government as they should have been
According to two people familiar with the matter, the Washington Post reported, federal law enforcement officials are said to be engaged in discussions about whether they should investigate former president Trump for a potential crime.
The referral to the DOJ results from officials from the National Archives recovering 15 boxes of materials stored at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Allegedly, the materials were not returned to the government as they should have been. They allege the former president returned other White House records that had been torn up.
As a result of the state of the materials returned to the National Archives, officials suspected that the former president had potentially violated laws concerning the handling of government documents. This includes documents that might have been considered classified. Officials from the National Archives reached out to the Justice Department, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity.
Will the DOJ investigate Trump?
The two individuals, who spoke to the Washington Post, said the handling of the White House documents remains preliminary, and it is not yet clear whether the Department of Justice will investigate Trump. The individuals who spoke to the Post said the DOJ might only be interested in reclaiming the classified materials.
The Post reached out to a Justice Department spokesperson who declined to comment.
Trump has long defied the Presidential Records Act
Former President Donald Trump has defied the Presidential Records Act for years, a law which requires that memos, letters, notes, emails, faxes, and other written communication related to a president’s official duties be preserved, the Post reported. This state of affairs has long raised concerns among legal observers and historians.
Politico first reported Trump’s penchant for ripping up official documents in 2018 and has drawn further scrutiny in recent weeks amid the atmosphere of the House select committee’s investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, incursion on the U.S. Capitol.
