Documents taken by Donald Trump contained classified information, National Archives allege

The National Archives and Records Administration says former President Trump took “classified national security information” to his personal residence at Mar-a-Lago.

“NARA has identified items marked as classified national security information within the boxes” that have been returned to the agency from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, Archivist David S. Ferriero acknowledged in a letter to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

The agency has said that Trump returned 15 boxes of documents that were improperly taken from the White House. Earlier this month, the oversight committee opened an investigation into the records that were taken from the White House by the former president.

Asked by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who chairs the oversight committee, if the agency had reported Trump’s actions to the U.S. Attorney General’s office, Ferriero said: “Because NARA identified classified information in the boxes, NARA staff has been in communication with the Department of Justice.”

In a letter to Ferriero, which was sent last week, Maloney said she was “deeply concerned” that the records had not been provided to the agency promptly at the end of the Trump administration. “They appear to have been removed from the White House in violation of the Presidential Records Act (PRA),” Maloney wrote.

Trump hit out at the allegations and denied any wrongdoing. “The National Archives did not ‘find’ anything, they were given, upon request, Presidential Records in an ordinary and routine process to ensure the preservation of my legacy and in accordance with the Presidential Records Act,” he said.

“If this was anyone but ‘Trump,’ there would be no story here.” Trump added that the Democrats “are in search of their next Scam.”