House Oversight panel asks Archives to assess whether White House records remain

In a letter sent Tuesday to the acting archivist of the United States, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) urged the Archives to “seek a personal certification from Donald Trump that he has surrendered all presidential records that he illegally removed from the White House after leaving office.”

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Maloney also called on the agency to “conduct an urgent review of presidential records recovered from the Trump White House to assess whether presidential records remain unaccounted for and potentially in the possession of the former president.”

In the six-page letter, Maloney underscored concerns about the dozens of empty folders for classified materials recovered by the FBI during the Aug. 8 search of the former president’s residence at his Mar-a-Lago Club, writing that “sensitive presidential records may remain out of the control and custody of the U.S. Government.”

“Although it is not clear from the inventory list why these folders were empty, the apparent separation of classified material and presidential records from their designated folders raises questions as to how the materials were stored and whether sensitive material may have been lost or obtained by third parties,” Maloney wrote.

The chairwoman requested an initial assessment of findings from the Archives by Sept. 27, and also called on Congress to consider potential legislative revisions to the Presidential Records Act.