U.S. reportedly recovered 300 classified documents from Trump this year, may still be looking for more

The federal government has recovered more than 300 documents with classified markings that former President Donald Trump improperly took from the White House, starting with about 150 classified documents retrieved by the National Archives in January, The New York Times reports, citing multiple people briefed on the matter. The large number of highly sensitive documents in the tranche returned to the National Archives helped convince the Justice Department to open the criminal investigation that led to the FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago club on Aug. 8, the Times reports.

The first 150 classified documents included in the 15 boxes Trump's team returned to the government in January, after a year of cajoling by the National Archives, "included documents from the CIA, the National Security Agency, and the FBI spanning a variety of topics of national security interest," the Times reports. "Trump went through the boxes himself in late 2021, according to multiple people briefed on his efforts, before turning them over."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.