The National Archives asked the Justice Department to investigate if Trump broke the law when he took official documents to Mar-a-Lago: report
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- The National Archives asked the DOJ to investigate if Trump violated federal record-keeping laws.
- The agency retrieved at least 15 boxes of official items Trump took to Mar-a-Lago upon leaving office.
- Trump's actions could violate the Presidential Records Act.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) asked the Department of Justice to investigate whether former President Donald Trump violated federal records laws when he took boxes of official White House documents to Mar-a-Lago with him, The Washington Post reported.
NARA on Monday confirmed an earlier Post report that Trump took over a dozen boxes containing official presidential records and memorabilia with him when he left office. If he did, his actions could have violated the Presidential Records Act.
The 1970s law requires presidents and White House staff to preserve official documents and communications including gifts received in office, letters, emails, text messages, and social media posts, and turn those items over to the Archives at the end of a president's term.
The agency said Trump and his team had "arranged transport" for 15 boxes of materials to be returned from Mar-a-Lago, and added that the former president and his staff were "continuing to search for additional Presidential records that belong to the National Archives."
Trump confirmed in a statement to The Post that he had "collaborative and respectful" negotiations with the Archives about the "transport of boxes that contained Presidential Records in compliance with the Presidential Records Act," calling it "a great honor" to work with the agency.
"Much of this material will someday be displayed in the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library for the public to view my Administration's incredible accomplishments for the American People," Trump added.
Some of the items in the boxes, according to The New York Times and The Post, included letters to Trump from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — which Trump described as beautiful "love letters," a note from former President Barack Obama, a map on which Trump drew with a Sharpie to mark a possible hurricane path to Alabama, and at least one piece of clothing.
Taking home official White House materials isn't the only way Trump flouted federal records law. The Archives also previously confirmed turning over to the January 6 committee White House records that had been torn up and taped back together.
Trump's habit of ripping up official documents, some of which staff then had to tape back together, was first reported by Politico in 2018.
Two of Trump's chiefs of staff and the White House counsel's office warned the then-president that his actions could violate federal recordkeeping laws, according to The Post.
The Archives, however, has little to no capacity to enforce violations of such laws, and showing that Trump exhibited criminal intent in tearing up documents could be an uphill battle, The Post reported.
Trump's handling of presidential records came back into the spotlight amid his fight to conceal executive branch documents from the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
Trump asserted executive privilege over the documents when the committee initially requested them. But the Biden White House declined to do the same, saying in October that it was "not in the best interests of the United States," and authorized the National Archives to turn over the materials to Congress.
Trump filed a lawsuit in response, setting up the first constitutional showdown testing whether a sitting president has the right to overrule their predecessor's assertion of executive privilege.
The former president ultimately lost his bid when the Supreme Court last month declined to block the release of White House records to the committee, clearing the way for the panel to receive four tranches of presidential records from NARA.
However, the justices noted that their order does not answer questions regarding a former president's ability to assert executive privilege, adding that such questions are "unprecedented" and "raise serious and substantial concerns."