Updated on 08/23/2022 at 10:39 p.m
- Donald Trump is said to have taken more than 700 pages of secret documents from the White House.
- Among them should be letters of the highest level of secrecy.
After leaving the White House, the former US President donald trump According to the US National Archives, he took at least 700 pages of classified documents. Some of them are classified with the highest levels of secrecy, according to a letter to a Trump attorney that the archive published on Tuesday night. The documents are stored in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and were handed over in January. The US media unanimously reported on the letter, which is dated May 10, on Tuesday, and the “New York Times” put it online.
The letter went on to say that the government “must undertake an assessment of the potential harm resulting from the apparent manner in which these materials were stored and transported.” The now published exchange between the agency and Trump’s defense attorneys took place months before the FBI’s search of the ex-president’s property two weeks ago. Further documents, some of which were classified as top secret, were secured.
Trump demands review by a neutral expert
The search had caused a stir beyond the United States. Trump had argued that he had released the confiscated sets of documents from his presidency. Incumbent presidents do have far-reaching powers to lift secrecy. But for the release of documents there is a formal procedure with several highly official steps. Trump also claimed that there was a permanent corresponding instruction in place for all documents taken home.
Trump filed a lawsuit against the government on Monday, demanding appoint a neutral examiner of the most recently confiscated documents and until that time to stop all investigations. Trump’s taking of the documents could constitute a criminal act. The 76-year-old, however, describes the actions of the Ministry of Justice against him as politically motivated. For weeks he has been flirting with the idea of running for the presidency again in 2024. (mt/dpa)
In the USA it is assumed that Donald Trump will stand again in 2024 for the presidential election. Ron DeSantis could then be his strongest competitor. The 43-year-old is not only reminiscent of the ex-president in terms of content. What you should know about DeSantis (teaser image: picture alliance / ZUMAPRESS.com/Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald).