The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is seeking Presidential records from the former commander-in-chief after leaving office, according to unclassified FBI files and emails revealed Monday.・Durian’s falsified map was “the most frequently asked question.” Submission to court.
In a July 2021 phone call, NARA General Counsel Gary Stern spoke with him and others about the former president’s hoarding of records, including a 2019 “hurricane map” and a letter from North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. An official from the National Records Agency said, “I’m angry.” and former President Barack Obama, federal filings From Trump’s classified documents incident in Florida show.
In a May 2021 email, Stern said he had “original correspondence” between Trump and Kim Jong-un, a letter Obama left on his first day in office, and “approximately 24 boxes of original presidential records that the former president took with him. ” was requested for return. From the White House.
According to interviews conducted by FBI agents and federal prosecutors with anonymous officials, “the most frequently asked about missing document was a hurricane map.” of Records Management (WHORM), at least one of whom has been identified by prosecutors as working in the White House Office of Records Management (WHORM).
A map shown by President Trump in his televised address to the nation in September 2019 showed Hurricane Dorian hitting a small portion of the Alabama coast, but its path was marked with a black Sharpie marker. It was drawn for a longer time.
The president tweeted a warning several days ago that Alabama could be hit by a hurricane and did not retract that claim for six days despite internal pushback from federal officials.
Another person familiar with the matter said Trump “liked certain documents” and kept the files secret because he didn’t “trust the system” and that leaks to the press “caused a firestorm.” ”, the interview records show.
When another person learned that NARA had asked for the documents, he joked, “NARA and which military?”
WHORM initially requested the documents before the end of Trump’s term after one of the anonymous officials interviewed raised concerns about record-keeping during his administration.
Other documents appear to have been obtained in the past without the president’s knowledge.
“On certain occasions, White House military aides, cleaning staff, and other White House personnel collected incineration bags, trash, and other documents and provided them to WHORM,” the FBI said in an interview with one of the officials. It is recorded.
“This often required the restoration of documents or the repair of damaged documents,” the memo said.
After Trump left office, NARA and WHORM helped retrieve the missing files in mid-2021 with the help of Attorney General Merrick Garland and President Biden’s White House Counsel Office, prosecutors said. their monday submissions.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows raised the record loss issue with the former president at Mar-a-Lago later that fall after speaking with Jonathan Hsu, a deputy adviser to Biden.
According to prosecutors, an anonymous person also warned President Trump in November 2021 that he could face criminal prosecution if he did not return the records to NARA.
In January 2022, authorities finally recovered 15 boxes of materials. These include documents related to the 2019 “Salute to America” military parade in Washington, D.C., Cabinet meetings, immigration issues, and at least one document designated as “highly restricted.” Ta.
“Accounts about the number of boxes missing have varied; President Trump’s former White House chief of staff says it’s about 24, but Mr. Trump says it’s only 12.” [Presidential Records Act] “The surrender of the representatives, and ultimately 15 others, to NARA raised concerns that a comprehensive review of the presidential records had not yet been conducted,” prosecutors argued.
NARA subsequently reported its concerns to the Justice Department about the alleged presence of potentially classified documents, leading to further back and forth between federal authorities and Mr. Trump’s lawyers over the material. .
In August 2022, the FBI finally executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, uncovering more than 100 classified documents, and Trump was indicted the following year on 40 criminal charges for possessing information. He was indicted.
Monday’s court filing came after U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon, who is overseeing the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, rejected multiple motions from Trump’s defense team to dismiss the case. .
The former president is currently scheduled to go to trial on July 8th.
