Archives told Trump in April that FBI would examine more than 100 classified documents returned from Mar-a-Lago

 Archives told Trump in April that FBI would examine more than 100 classified documents returned from Mar-a-Lago

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By Jacqueline Alemany

August 23, 2022 at 3:22 p.m. EDT

A letter from acting archivist of the United States Debra Steidel Wall to former president Donald Trump's legal team is photographed Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022. (Jon Elswick/AP)

Former president Donald Trump returned more than 100 classified documents, comprising more than 700 pages, to the National Archives in January, according to a letter released by the Archives on Tuesday.

Acting Archivist Debra Steidel Wall also notified Trump’s lawyer Evan Corcoran that the agency would provide the FBI access to 15 boxes of materials in order to investigate “whether those records were handled in an unlawful manner" and conduct an assessment to determine if any damage might have resulted from the improper handling of materials, according to the May 10 letter.

The more than 100 documents turned over in January were among the materials in 15 boxes of records recovered by the Archives from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago club earlier this year, after nearly a year of back and forth over missing presidential documents between Trump’s legal team and the agency charged with preserving the nation’s federal records.

“As the Department of Justice’s National Security Division explained to you on April 29, 2022: ‘There are important national security interests in the FBI and others in the Intelligence Community getting access to these materials. According to NARA, among the materials in the boxes are over 100 documents with classification markings, comprising more than 700 pages. Some include the highest levels of classification, including Special Access Program (SAP) materials,’” Steidel Wall wrote.

The FBI removed an additional 20 boxes of items from the Mar-a-Lago Club earlier this month, including four sets of top-secret documents and seven other sets of classified information, according to a written inventory of the items seized in the high-profile search of Mar-a-Lago earlier this month.

Trump’s secrets: How a records dispute led the FBI to search Mar-a-Lago

The Washington Post first reported in February that the Archives discovered records in the boxes recovered from Mar-a-Lago at the very highest levels of classification, including some that can be viewed by only a small number of government officials.

Steidel Wall also noted in her letter that the Archives afforded Trump’s legal team additional time to review the materials after first advising it on April 12 that the agency planned to provide the FBI access to the documents.

Trump’s lawyers sent letters on April 29 and May 1, according to Steidel Wall’s account, to delay the production of the materials to the FBI so that Trump could decide whether to assert executive privilege over the materials. John Solomon, a writer who also serves as one of Trump’s representatives to the National Archives, first posted the text of the letter on Monday.

Steidel Wall ultimately rebuffed their request after consulting with the Department of Justice.

“The question in this case is not a close one,” Steidel Wall wrote. “The Executive Branch here is seeking access to records belonging to, and in the custody of, the Federal Government itself, not only in order to investigate whether those records were handled in an unlawful manner but also, as the National Security Division explained, to ‘conduct an assessment of the potential damage resulting from the apparent manner in which these materials were stored and transported and take any necessary remedial steps.’”

Trump’s legal team on Monday asked a federal judge to appoint a special master to oversee the review of the classified documents and materials seized from Mar-a-Lago, along with a request for a more detailed inventory of the items taken on Aug. 8 than the one the FBI left Trump with. The court filing, which accused the FBI of a “shockingly aggressive” and politically motivated search, also demanded that the Justice Department provide a more thorough explanation of why the search was warranted.

By Jacqueline Alemany

Jacqueline Alemany is a Congressional Investigations reporter for The Washington Post. Previously, she was the author of The Early 202, The Post's flagship early morning newsletter featuring news critical to the nation’s many power centers. Alemany is also an on-air contributor to NBC News and MSNBC.  Twitter

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