New Bombshell Reveals National Archives May Have Misled Congress About Trump Mar-a-Lago Documents, New Internal Memos Show

While an official from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) wrote to Congress insisting that the governmental institution had nothing further to do with the federal criminal investigation about alleged classified marked documents that were found at Mar-a-Lago after it referred to the matter to the Department of Justice (DOJ), this may not be entirely truthful according to a stream of internal memos discovered by Just The News.

NARA’s referral to the DOJ was in February 2022. According to the letter from a NARA Archivist to Congress, it stated that “When NARA identified items marked as classified national security information within the 15 boxes, NARA referred this issue to the DOJ. Since that time, the DOJ has been exclusively responsible for all aspects of this investigation, and NARA has not been involved in the DOJ investigation or any searches that it has conducted.” NARA used this as an excuse to plead ignorance and say that they were “unable to provide a briefing or any documents in response to your letter, and we refer you to the DOJ.”

Since then a stream of internal memos, emails, and letters that were uncovered through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) contradicts this narrative and raises questions. Indeed, internal communications show that one week after the letter to Congress, a senior NARA official was seeking data from the FBI about the case. Here the NARA liaison to the White House texted that he “[n]eeds the case number for the FBI review.” A colleague texted back that “I think it’s LW 2022-070. This is the FBI review of the 15 boxes correct?” The liaison responded in the affirmative.

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NARA also fielded requests from the Biden White House in April 2022 to provide the FBI special access to the 15 boxes of Trump documents. This was revealed in a letter that NARA wrote to one of Trump’s lawyers where they admit that “On April 11, 2022, the White House Counsel’s Office — affirming a request from the Department of Justice supported by an FBI letterhead memorandum — formally transmitted a request that NARA provide the FBI access to the 15 boxes for its review within seven days, with the possibility that the FBI might request copies of specific documents following its review of the boxes.”

Other such eyebrow-raising materials contradict the notion that NARA was not involved in any FBI probe after its initial referral. America First Legal (AFL) is reported by Just The News as preparing a Freedom of Information Act request to compel the further release of NARA’s internal material. Reed D. Rubinstein, the Senior Counselor and Director of Oversight and Investigations of AFL, commented that “The evidence suggests that the ostensibly nonpartisan National Archives and Records Administration misled Congress about the Biden White House’s responsibility for the FBI’s raid of former President Trump’s home.”

He added that “The evidence further suggests that Biden officials in the Executive Office of the President and the Department of Justice unlawfully abused their power and then lied about it to the American people. This government, it seems, acknowledges no limits on its power to harass, intimidate, and silence its political opponents.”

America First Legal’s Twitter page referred to their own action to compel the further release of internal documentation by simply tweeting “Stay tuned…”

Stay tuned… https://t.co/uEhnYOnctY pic.twitter.com/wy8BjNckGV

— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) April 10, 2023