Among the documents that Donald Trump had at Mar-a-Lago were transcripts of his phone calls with foreign leaders, the former president's lawyers told the Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee in a letter.
According to CNN, the lawyers said that classified briefings of phone calls with international leaders were among “all manner of documents” in the 15 boxes Trump gave to the National Archives in 2022.
The report explained that the initial group of documents that Trump returned contained those classified call transcripts and briefings. An example of one of those such calls was the transcript notes that Trump released about his "perfect call" with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump's lawyers argued that it appears as if a White House staffer "simply swept all documents from the President’s desk and other areas into boxes, where they have resided ever since."
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Presidents have access to some documents or materials and office equipment they might need to set up the Office of the Former President at their new location. That doesn't include classified documents or information that needs to be archived. Trump, like all presidents, had access to all of the documents he wanted once they were archived.
Trump is being investigated by special counsel Jack Smith about the documents taken. The initial 15 boxes were turned over after some persuasion, but many other documents were alleged not returned. It took a subpoena and a visit by the FBI to get everything back, although investigators are concerned that there are some documents still in the former president's possession.
Trump's lawyers urged the House Republicans to order the Justice Department to "stand down" on the probe.
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“DOJ should be ordered to stand down, and the intelligence community should instead conduct an appropriate investigation and provide a full report to this Committee, as well as your counterparts in the Senate,” the lawyers wrote to the Republicans. “This is indicative of the staff’s packing processes and not any criminal intent by President Trump."
The lawyers said they looked through all of the 15 boxes earlier in 2023 and also found "placeholder pages where classified documents were removed by the National Archives," CNN characterized the letter saying.
“The vast majority of the placeholder inserts refer to briefings for phone calls with foreign leaders that were located near the schedule for those calls,” the lawyers claimed.
The letter doesn't address any of the documents taken by Trump after the initial 15 boxes taken in Jan. 2022.
More boxes were taken in Aug. 2022, which uncovered more than 100 classified documents, including 18 at the highest "top secret" level. ABC News reported Feb. 10 that Trump’s legal team gave the FBI an additional folder of documents that contained classification markings. There was also an aide's laptop that was handed over that had classified information on it.
CNN characterized the letter as "Trump’s legal team seeking a political lifeline by asking Congress tell the Justice Department to step aside."
Trump's lawyers also noted that President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence had improperly retained classified documents, too.
“As demonstrated by the discovery of documents with classification markings in the homes of President Trump, President Biden, and Vice President Pence, deficient document handling and storage procedures are not limited to any individual, administration, or political party,” the lawyers said.
Earlier in April, intelligence leaders were given access to see the documents Pence and Biden had. There hasn't yet been a briefing on Trump's, however.
The Senate didn't get the same letter from the Trump lawyers.
