In late 2021 — after nearly a year of attempts from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to obtain government records Donald Trump had improperly removed from the White House — the former president told his advisers that he would return the records in exchange for documents relating to the Russia investigation.
Trump, “still determined to show he had been wronged by the FBI investigation into his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia,” suggested to his aides that they bargain for materials related to the inquiry by offering NARA the White House records he was keeping at his estate, according to reporting from The New York Times.
For years, Trump has denounced the Russia investigation, which was led by former special counsel Robert Mueller and sought to determine whether or not Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election on his behalf.
Trump reportedly wanted documents from the Russia investigation because he believed NARA had previously refused to disclose documents that would back up his unsubstantiated claims regarding the inquiry.
The former president has frequently stated that the Russia investigation “exonerated” him of any wrongdoing. However, Mueller has stated otherwise, noting that many of Trump’s actions could constitute obstruction of justice in the eyes of federal prosecutors .
Trump’s aides ultimately rejected the proposal to bargain for the documents. Later that year, Trump relented and agreed to allow NARA to retrieve some documents from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida — but only after the agency threatened to get Congress involved.
When NARA examined the documents it retrieved in early 2022, officials noticed that many were marked as classified, prompting them to reach out to the Department of Justice (DOJ). In June 2022, the DOJ subpoenaed Trump to return additional documents marked as classified, and had his legal counsel sign an affidavit affirming that no more documents were on the property.
After evidence surfaced showing that additional classified documents remained at Mar-a-Lago, the FBI executed a search warrant in August, recovering more than 100 classified materials and more than 11,000 government documents. In all, the federal government has retrieved more than 300 classified documents from Trump’s property since the start of the year.
It’s unclear if additional White House documents remain in Trump’s possession.
“While there is no easy way to establish absolute accountability, we do know that we do not have custody of everything we should,” acting archivist Debra Steidel Wall said in a letter to the House Oversight Committee earlier this month.
Angry, shocked, overwhelmed? Take action: Support independent media.
We’ve borne witness to a chaotic first few months in Trump’s presidency.
Over the last months, each executive order has delivered shock and bewilderment — a core part of a strategy to make the right-wing turn feel inevitable and overwhelming. But, as organizer Sandra Avalos implored us to remember in Truthout last November, “Together, we are more powerful than Trump.”
Indeed, the Trump administration is pushing through executive orders, but — as we’ve reported at Truthout — many are in legal limbo and face court challenges from unions and civil rights groups. Efforts to quash anti-racist teaching and DEI programs are stalled by education faculty, staff, and students refusing to comply. And communities across the country are coming together to raise the alarm on ICE raids, inform neighbors of their civil rights, and protect each other in moving shows of solidarity.
It will be a long fight ahead. And as nonprofit movement media, Truthout plans to be there documenting and uplifting resistance.
As we undertake this life-sustaining work, we appeal for your support. We have 10 days left in our fundraiser: Please, if you find value in what we do, join our community of sustainers by making a monthly or one-time gift.