When Donald Trump left the White House in January 2021, he took with him several documents that were clearly classified, including some at the “top secret” level, according to The Washington Post.
Trump’s possession of the sensitive materials after he left public office is likely illegal, although former federal prosecutor Brandon Van Grack told The Post that Trump could argue that he gave himself authorization.
The documents in question were discovered by the National Archives among a batch of materials Trump shipped back to the federal government after improperly removing them from the White House. “Some bore markings that the information was extremely sensitive and would be limited to a small group of officials with authority to view such highly classified information,” notes the Post.
The outlet adds:
A “top secret” classification is applied to information where unauthorized disclosure “could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security,” according to the Archives’s Information Security Oversight Office.
The documents are currently being kept in a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) while the Department of Justice debates how to handle the matter. If they were to prosecute Trump, they would have to prove that he intentionally mishandled the documents or showed gross negligence in doing so.
A Trump spokesman insisted that the story is being overblown, saying in a statement, “It is clear that a normal and routine process is being weaponized by anonymous, politically motivated government sources to peddle Fake News. The only entity with the ability to credibly dispute this false reporting, the National Archives, is providing no comment.”
The Post provides key context:
Trump’s years-long defiance of the Presidential Records Act, which requires the preservation of memos, letters, notes, emails, faxes and other written communications related to a president’s official duties, and other unusual record-keeping practices have long drawn scrutiny. In 2018, for example, Politico reported on his penchant for ripping up official documents. But in recent weeks, Trump’s activities have generated new attention — in large part because of the House select committee’s investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Washington Post reported late last month that some of the White House records the National Archives turned over to the committee appeared to have been torn apart and then taped back together. The Post later reported that officials had recovered 15 boxes of presidential records from Mar-a-Lago, and that they suspected Trump had possibly violated laws concerning the handling of government documents — including those that might be considered classified.