(FreedomBeacon.com)- According to persons familiar with the subject, the Justice Department has initiated an investigation into former President Donald Trump’s relocation of presidential records to Mar-a-Lago, some of which were classified “top secret.”
The sources, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said the investigation was still in its “early stages.” It’s unclear if Justice Department authorities have begun evaluating the contents in the boxes or conducting interviews with anyone who may have seen them or assisted in their assembly and transportation.
Political pressure is mounting on the department to reveal its plans in the case. Chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) accused the Justice Department on Thursday of hindering her committee’s inquiry into the 15 boxes of papers Trump carried to his Palm Beach, Fla., mansion.
Maloney claims that the Justice Department is interfering with the inquiry by prohibiting the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) from providing a complete inventory of the contents of the retrieved boxes. She wrote a letter addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland expressing these frustrations.
If the agency is considering an inquiry, this might explain why they are playing it close to the vest and might not want the materials inventoried by legislators.
The contents of the boxes, which the National Archives arranged to acquire from Mar-a-Lago in January, including records explicitly designated as top secret, are unknown as to what degree the Justice Department has already examined them. On the other hand, the Justice Department has been in contact with the Archives about pushing forward with its investigation, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Garland said the department would do what they always do; look at the facts and the law and take it from there.
A Trump spokesman feels that it is evident that an ordinary and routine procedure is being weaponized by anonymous, politically motivated government sources to propagate fakes news.
“We can neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation,” an FBI spokesman stated.
That would qualify as being in the “early stages.”
