Rep. Maloney Asks If Any 'Unaccounted For' Trump Records Exist
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (Getty Images)
By Charles Kim | Tuesday, 13 September 2022 11:43 AM EDT
House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., asked the National Archives and Records Administration in a letter Tuesday if there are still "unaccounted for" documents that may be in the possession of former President Donald Trump.
"In light of the serious risk that Mr. Trump may still be retaining sensitive government records at Mar-a-Lago or his other properties, I urge NARA to seek a personal certification from Donald Trump that he has surrendered all presidential records that he illegally removed from the White House after leaving office," wrote Maloney, a Democrat.
"I also ask that the agency conduct an urgent review of presidential records recovered from the Trump White House to assess whether presidential records remain unaccounted for and potentially in the possession of the former president."
The letter comes after 30 FBI armed agents swarmed Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on Aug. 8 looking for documents the National Archives claim Trump took after leaving the White House in January 2021.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said he "personally" signed off on an application for the federal search warrant executed by the FBI, which yielded "more than 11,000 government records" still in Trump's possession at the resort, according to a press release from the committee Tuesday.
"The Committee is concerned that, given this pattern of conduct, Mr. Trump may continue to retain presidential records at non-secure locations, including classified material that could endanger our nation's security and other important records documenting Mr. Trump's activities at the White House," the Chairwoman wrote. "NARA's staff recently informed the Committee that the agency is not certain whether all presidential records are in its custody."
U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon approved Trump's request for a special master to review the seized materials, and the Department of Justice is signaling that it agrees with Trump's candidate, former New York federal court judge Raymond J. Dearie, to take on the job, the Washington Post reported Monday.
If approved for the role by Cannon, Dearie will be tasked with going through the materials taken by the FBI and determine what they could use in a potential prosecution of the former president, and which would be considered personal or privileged, such as documents relating to attorney-client discussions.
Currently, Cannon barred the Justice Department from using any of the materials in a potential prosecution until the special master could review them and make a determination, according to the report.