The Justice Department believes former President Donald Trump has more secret government documents in his possession and has asked him to return them, according to reports from The New York Times and CNN.
Jay I. Bratt, DOJ’s head of counterintelligence operations, informed Trump’s lawyers that he has not yet returned all the documents that were supposed to be turned over to the National Archives when he left the White House in 2021, according to The New York. time
As CNN reported, Justice Department officials have demanded in recent weeks that classified documents remaining in Trump’s possession be returned.
The Times first reported on the matter, citing two anonymous sources briefed on the matter. CNN later confirmed the same report.
FBI officials obtained a warrant and searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on August 8 to retrieve classified documents he illegally took from the White House. Officials were able to recover at least 20 boxes and 11 relevant documents. Trump was found to have more than 300 classified documents in his possession, and 150 of them were returned to the National Archives.
In June, a lawyer representing Trump had signed a legal document confirming that he had already returned classified documents that were in a storage area at the Mar-a-Lago estate. However, interviews with Trump aides and reviews of security footage led government officials to believe that Trump had not communicated with federal investigators about the documents in his possession.
