National Archives disputes Trump’s claim that Obama took documents from White House

The National Archives and Records Administration issued a statement dismissing claims made by former President Donald Trump about the records of another former President, Barack Obama.

The FBI raided Trump’s Florida residence Mar-A-Lago searching for confidential documents they alleged Trump removed from the White House.

The Wall Street Journal reported that The FBI found four sets of “top secret documents,” three sets of “secret documents,” and three sets of “confidential documents.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland also publicly announced on Thursday that he “personally approved the decision” to seek a search warrant.

Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday to state that Obama also removed records but was not subjected to a raid. “What happened to the 30 million pages of documents taken from the White House to Chicago by Barack Hussein Obama? He refused to give them back!”

In response to Trump’s comments on Thursday on his Truth Social platform, the National Archives released a statement in regard to Obama’s records, saying that it was given “exclusive legal and physical custody” of Obama’s records after he left the White House in January 2017.

The National Archives also said that Obama’s documents were securely held in a facility in Washington and noted that “As required by the [Presidential Records Act], former President Obama has no control over where and how NARA stores the Presidential records of his Administration.”

Trump posted again on Friday, in direct response to the National Archives, repeating his claim that Obama also removed records. “President Barack Hussein Obama kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified,” Trump wrote. “How many of them pertained to nuclear? Word is, lots!”