According to a letter made public on Friday, a House of Representatives committee examining former President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of sensitive materials from the White House has broadened its investigation into the Republican’s management of data, Reuters reports.
Representative Carolyn Maloney, the Democratic head of the House Oversight Committee, wrote to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requesting further information regarding what she called “the largest-scale breaches of the presidential records act since its establishment.”
Maloney requested that NARA give information by March 10th, including a thorough account of the contents of boxes discovered from Trump’s Florida property, in a letter to US Archivist David Ferriero. After claims that employees recovered documents in a White House toilet during Trump’s administration, she wanted information regarding any records moved that he had destroyed or attempted to delete.
The letter, dated Feb. 24, also ordered NARA to disclose documents and correspondence pertaining to Trump administration employees’ use of personal messaging accounts for official business by March 17.
A request for comment from the National Archives was not immediately returned. It confirmed in a letter to Maloney this week that classified items were discovered in the crates Trump brought to Florida.
Maloney’s panel has been investigating Trump’s management of documents since he left office in January 2021. Since it was found that Trump had moved 15 boxes of presidential records to his Florida property rather than giving them over to the National Archives as legally required, Trump has denied misconduct.
“The American people deserve to know the extent of what former President Trump did to hide and destroy federal records and make sure these abuses do not happen again,” Maloney said in a statement.
Memos, letters, notes, emails, faxes, and other written communications relevant to a president’s official duties must be preserved under the US Presidential Records Act.
The Washington Post initially reported earlier this month that some of the documents brought to Trump’s residence and then returned to the Archives were designated as classified, potentially putting Trump and his associates under even more legal scrutiny.
The US Justice Department has not said whether or whether an inquiry has been launched.
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