Trump took White House documents with the most sensitive level of national security secrecy to Mar-a-Lago

By Ken Dilanian and Rebecca Shabad -

The 15 boxes of documents that former President Donald Trump took to his residence in Mar-a-Lago (Florida) when he left the White House in January 2021 and returned a year later, under pressure from the federal government, were marked with the highest level of confidentiality, suggesting that they contained the most sensitive secrets for national security.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) reported this discovery to Trump's lawyers in May by means of a letter, the content of which was published on its website on Tuesday after journalist John Solomon revealed its content.

All White House documents must be preserved by law and turned over to the National Archives at the end of each president's term.

Trump did, however, take several boxes of government records to his Florida mansion.

He returned these 15 boxes of top-secret documents in January, after being requested to do so, but the FBI searched his residence in early August, with a court order, in search of other confidential documents.

They found 11 sets of papers, including some labeled secret.

Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago on August 10. Steve Helber / AP

In the 15 boxes Trump's attorneys returned to them in January, National Archives officials found documents containing "classified national security information, top secret and confidential information, and special access program materials," according to the letter. known this Tuesday

This suggests that Trump took home the government's most protected material, which could give away sources in the intelligence agencies.

[“We worried about it all the time”: this is how Trump handled secret documents when he was president]

The National Archives informed the Justice Department of the nature of these documents, which had been in Trump's possession for more than a year, prompting them to request that the FBI and members of the intelligence community examine them.

“There are significant national security interests in the FBI and others in the intelligence community having access to these materials,” the letter stated, “Among the materials in the boxes are more than 100 documents with classification marks comprising more than 700 pages. Some include the highest levels of classification, including special access program materials."

President Joe Biden rejected any claim of executive privilege that Trump might assert to justify his access to the documents as a former president.

The National Archives also made it clear that the Justice Department's national security division was attempting to "assess the potential harm that could result from the manner in which these materials were stored and transported in order to take any necessary corrective action."