Donald Trump personally packed up the 15 boxes of documents that his office returned to the National Archives in January, a new report revealed on Monday.
The former president himself did the return job, people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post in a bombshell report that revealed Trump asked one of his lawyers to tell the National Archives and Records Administration that his team had returned all the requested records.
Alex Cannon, the attorney, refused because he was not sure the statement was true.
It was Cannon who facilitated the January transfer of 15 boxes of presidential records from Trump’s Palm Beach home Mar-a-Lago to the National Archives in Washington D.C.
It was later revealed that thousands of documents from Trump’s presidency, including ones marked classified, had remained in Florida.
But, in February, Trump was determined to declare that ‘everything’ sought by the archives had been handed over.
Donald Trump personally packed up the 15 boxes of documents that his office returned to the National Archives in January
By law, former presidents must hand over all documents and records from the presidency as they are the property of the United States government.
Trump had asked his team to release a statement he had dictated, saying the former president had returned ‘everything’ the archives had requested. The statement ultimately was not released.
He also, sources told the Post, had told his aides the documents in the boxes were ‘newspaper clippings’ and not relevant to the archives.
And he complained that National Archives was being ‘persnickety’ about getting the materials from Mar-a-Lago.
The Justice Department is investigating Trump’s handling of classified documents and the possible hiding, tampering or destruction of government records.
The August 8th raid at Mar-a-Lago was part of that probe. The FBI seized more than 11,000 records, including about 100 documents marked as classified, in the court-approved search of Trump’s Florida home.
Trump has denied any wrong doing and it remains unclear if he or any of his aides knew additional material remained at Mar-a-Lago after the January handover of the 15 boxes.
In the August 8th raid of Mar-a-Lago, the FBI seized more than 11,000 records, including about 100 documents marked as classified
Trump attorney Alex Cannon refused Trump’s request to tell that National Archives that they had handed over all records in January – because he feared it wasn’t…