Congress working with NARA as Trump ‘gift’ investigation proceeds: report

The FBI investigation into documents that were allegedly illegally at Mar-a-Lago has brought fresh attention to one of the less-known congressional investigations into Trump potentially having possession of an entirely different set of illicit items.

"Former President Donald Trump intermingled classified and unclassified materials in boxes at his Florida residence and had dozens of empty folders that bore a “classification” marking, according to an inventory list made public Friday morning that describes in more detail what FBI agents recovered when they searched Mar-a-Lago last month," The Washington Postreported Friday. "Several of the retrieved boxes also contain items labeled 'clothing/ gift item,' according to the inventory list. While these are not secret or sensitive items, experts said the discovery of them at Mar-a-Lago raises questions about whether Trump followed longstanding rules around receiving gifts domestically and those from foreign governments."

On Jun. 6, Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) wrote a letter to acting Archivist of the U.S. Debra Steidal Wall.

"The Oversight Committee is investigating former President Trump’s apparent failure to account for gifts from foreign government officials while in office, as required by law," Maloney wrote. "Information provided to the Committee by the Department of State indicates the Trump Administration 'did not prioritize this obligation' and failed to comply with the law governing foreign gift reporting during President Trump’s final year in office. As a result, the foreign sources and monetary value of gifts President Trump received remain unknown. The Committee has also learned that the Trump Administration mismanaged gifts from foreign sources during President Trump’s term and left the State Department’s gift vault in 'complete disarray.'"

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Like the Mar-a-Lago documents, Maloney's investigation is also focused on national security.

"These revelations raise concerns about the potential for undue influence over former President Trump by foreign governments, which may have put the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States at risk, and about possible violations of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which prohibits the president from obtaining benefits from foreign entities while in office," Maloney wrote.

The inventory list does not say who gave the gifts seized at Mar-a-Lago.

A spokesperson for the committee, which will only be led by Maloney until January after she lost her primary against House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), told The Post, "The Committee is continuing to investigate foreign gifts received by former President Trump and his top advisors and we are engaging with the National Archives to obtain responsive documents and information.”

Read the full report.