Classified national security documents were in fact among those former President Donald Trump brought with him upon leaving office, the government's chief archivist said Friday, per Bloomberg.
In a letter to the chair of the House Oversight Committee, Archivist David Ferriero said the National Archives "has identified items marked as classified national security information within the boxes" recently recovered from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.
In January, the Archives got a hold of multiple boxes containing documents and records Trump had "improperly removed" from Pennsylvania Ave and brought with him to his Florida resort. Earlier this month, the government agency expressed concern that classified information appeared to be among the recovered boxes, in what would be a pretty obvious violation of the Presidential Records Act.
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Ferriero's letter also said the Archives "has identified certain social media records that were not captured and preserved by the Trump Administration," and that it found "some White House staff conducted official business using non-official electronic messaging accounts that were not copied or forwarded into their official electronic messaging accounts." Such disclosures are required under current presidential record law, Ferriero said.
Because classified information was, in fact, found among Trump's boxes, the Archives staff has been in touch with the Department of Justice, reports The New York Times.
"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," House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said Friday. "I am committed to uncovering the full depth of Presidential Records Act violations by former President Trump and his top advisors, and using these findings to advance critical reforms and prevent future abuses."
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