Documents from Trump White House yet to be submitted: National Archives

The United
States National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) told the House Oversight
Committee that members of former President Donald Trump’s administration are yet
to submit some documents that they carried from the White House during their
departure, citing information that some White House staff used non-official
electronic systems to conduct official business, CNN reported.

NARA told House
committee chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, that the agency has
been unable to secure records from a number of former officials in a letter on
Friday. NARA added that it will continue in its pursuit to obtain presidential
records and those of former officials.

“While
there is no easy way to establish absolute accountability, we do know that we
do not have custody of everything we should,” according to the NARA letter to
Maloney.

NARA has
been working towards obtaining outstanding records for years and Friday’s
letter is the latest in its attempts to obtain important government records for
the US archive.

Earlier
this year, the agency was tied up in a back-and-forth with former President
Donald Trump for the return of government documents and records. NARA’s
findings prompted a Department of Justice investigation and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) raided Trump’s Palm Beach residence, Mar-a-Lago, and
discovered several boxes of government documents including those classified as
secret and top-secret in the former president’s custody.

NARA’s
letter to the House Oversight Committee chairwoman refers to a lawsuit filed
last summer by the DOJ asking a judge to order Peter Navarro, former White
House trade adviser in the Trump administration, to return documents that he
had kept after leaving the administration.

According
to the Justice Department, the former White House trade adviser used a private
email to conduct presidential business. Such business included the creation and
deployment of National Guard-based rapid response teams, use of hydroxychloroquine
to treat COVID-19 and obtaining ventilators.

Maloney, in
a statement Saturday, said: “It’s outrageous that these records remain
unaccounted for 20 months after former President Trump left office.”

“Former
President Trump and his senior staff have shown utter disregard for the rule of
law and our national security by failing to return presidential records as the
law requires,” she added.

Meanwhile,
in Friday’s letter, the National Archives inquired if it should pursue criminal
charges to the Justice Department for the documents that have not been returned.