Lawyer Told Archives Last Year That Trump Had No Classified Material
The National Archives has told the Justice Department that an attorney representing former President Donald J. Trump last year indicated to the archives that boxes Mr. Trump had brought to the Mar house -a-Lago from the White House includes only unclassified material such as newspaper clippings. , according to one person who spoke briefly on the matter.
The message was delivered by Patrick Philbin, a former top White House lawyer who represented the office after Mr. Trump’s presidency, to the National Archives last September to the top lawyer. at the archives, Gary Stern, according to two people briefed on the matter. .
Philbin pointed out to Stern that the information was based on what Trump’s last White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, believed was the contents of the box, the people said. Stern memorized his own description of the exchange in an email, one of the people said.
It is unclear when the archives told the Justice Department about the conversation. But it is part of a growing body of evidence gathered by investigators that shows how Mr. Trump’s representatives gave false information about what Mr. Trump took with him when he left the White House.
About four months after Philbin’s conversation with Stern, Trump returned 15 boxes of documents he had taken from the White House into the archives. Officials at the archives soon determined that boxes containing more than 150 documents marked as classifiedraised concerns at the Justice Department and helped launch the criminal investigation that prompted FBI agents to storm Trump’s Florida mansion, Mar-a-Lago, last month to seek restitution. more than.
In general, the government has recovered more than 300 documents with classification marks from Mr. Trump since he left office: the first batch of documents were returned in January, another set by Trump aides to the Justice Department in June, and about 100 documents seized by the FBI kept during the search.
Mr. Trump and the Justice Department are arguing in court over classified documents found during the search. A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department not to use those documents in its criminal investigation pending an independent arbitrator’s review of whether the documents are protected by executive privilege. or attorney-client privilege.
The first The Washington Post report on Friday that Mr. Philbin had told archives there was no sensitive or classified material in the boxes.
Mr. Trump told advisers a version of what Mr. Meadows allegedly told Mr. Philbin, that the boxes contained news tidbits and personal effects, according to people familiar with the events. Mr. Trump’s aides have told others there were only 12 boxes of documents, which is what Mr. Meadows is also said to have passed on to Mr. Philbin.
A spokesman for Mr Trump did not respond to messages seeking comment. A spokesman for Philbin declined to comment.
Mr. Meadows went to Mar-a-Lago and discussed boxes of documents with Mr. Trump during the summer of 2021, when archival officials were trying to send them documents. Mr. Philbin is trying to facilitate a return while avoiding being drawn further into the dispute, according to two people familiar with the events.
In a statement, Ben Williamson, a spokesman for Mr. Meadows, said, “Mr. Meadows has not personally reviewed the boxes at Mar-a-Lago and has no role in examining or verifying what is or is not contained within them.”
Last year, the National Archives, concerned that it did not have all the presidential records from the Trump administration, tried for months to get Mr. Mar-a-Lago. After a long back and forth, Mr. Trump earlier this year delivered 15 boxes, which in addition to classified documents contained messages, other presidential files, gifts, clothing and random objects.
The National Archives has alerted the Justice Department to the fact that classified documents were being kept outside of secure channels. The archives and the Justice Department remain skeptical that Mr. Trump has returned all of the presidential files taken from the White House, sparking another protracted showdown with Mr. Trump’s lawyers.
Even after Mr. Trump’s lawyers returned another set of classified documents in June – and after one of the lawyers signed the document confirming that all the documents sought by the Justice Department had been returned, Mr. again – investigators believe more sensitive documents remain at Mar-a-Lago.
In August, federal agents carried out a court-approved search at Mar-a-Lago to find additional government documents, including documents related to certain secrets. the country’s most protected.