Some Donald Trump White House Documents Still Missing, National Archives Tells Congress
Some of the White House documents from former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration are still missing, according to the National Archives.
Acting Archivist of the United States, Debra Steidel Wall, penned a letter addressed to House Oversight Committee chair Carolyn Maloney. She claimed that White House staff had used "non-official electronic messaging accounts" for official business and were not copied or forwarded into their official accounts.
Wall told Congress that they know they "do not have custody of everything" that they should, according to a CBS News report.
Wall continued to say in her letter that the Archives will continue to pursue the return of the presidential records from former officials.
The acting archivist noted that the National Archives would consult the Justice Department on whether to act for the "recovery of records unlawfully removed," as stated under the Federal Records Act.
Wall also cited the Justice Department lawsuit against a top trade Trump adviser, Peter Navarro, in August. The lawsuit was about the retrieval of official email records sent from his personal email account.
Donald Trump Officials and Missing White House Documents
Maloney said in a statement that Trump and his senior staff have "shown an utter disregard for the rule of law," including national security, with their failure to return presidential records.
The chairwoman added that she would do anything in her power to return the record and prevent such action from happening again, according to a Reuters report.
A congressional panel on September 13 requested a National Archives review after agency staff members noted that they were unaware that all presidential records from the Trump White House had been returned.
Meanwhile, representatives of the former president have yet to comment on the matter.
Maloney said that it is "outrageous" how some records from Trump's administration had been "unaccounted for 20 months," as reported by NBC News.
The chairwoman also requested a written certification from Trump to confirm that he had not made any copies or transferred presidential records to anyone besides the National Archives or the Department of Justice.
Donald Trump Mar-a-Lago Documents
Trump is facing a criminal investigation brought by the Justice Department for keeping government records, some of which were marked as "top secret," at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida residence.
The FBI seized more than 11,000 records, including about 100 documents marked as classified in a court-approved search on August 8.
Trump has been arguing for an executive privilege over the Mar-a-Lago documents.
However, U.S. President Joe Biden is not supporting the former president's attempt to use that claim.
Aside from the Mar-a-Lago documents, Trump has also been claiming executive privilege over January 6 communications.
A former counsel with the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Michael Stern, said that Trump's team had laid out a broad argument on executive privilege, according to a New York Times report.
Stern said that it remains to be seen how exactly they are going to make their case issues move up to appellate courts.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Mary Webber
WATCH: What We Know So Far About The National Archives' Effort To Retrieve Files From Trump - from MSNBC
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