National Archive says it is still missing some Trump administration records

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox

Get our free Inside Washington email

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice

The National Archives and Records Administration sent a letter to Congress saying that it is still missing records from the Trump administration, despite the FBI’s execution of a search warrant at former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

Acting Archivist of the United States Debra Streidel Wall sent a letter to House Oversight & Government Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney. “While there is no easy way to establish absolute accountability, we do know that we do not have custody of everything we should,” the letter stated.

The letter was in response to one sent by Ms Maloney asking the agency to “conduct an urgent review of presidential records from the Trump Administration to identify any Presidential record” that might still be outside of its control and to seek a written certification from Mr Trump that he had surrendered all presidential records or classified materials; had not made any copies and hadn’t transferred them to anyone but NARA or the Department of Justice.

NARA had identified that some White House staff conducted official business using non-official accounts.

“NARA has been able to obtain such records from a number of former officials and will continue to pursue the return of similar types of Presidential records from former officials,” the letter said. The letter continued by saying that NARA would consult with the Justice Department about whether to “to initiate an action for the recovery of records unlawfully removed,” according to the Federal Records Act.

It also noted that it filed a lawsuit against former Trump adviser Peter Navarro.

“With respect to the second issue concerning whether former President Trump has surrendered all presidential records, we respectfully refer you to the Department of Justice in light of its ongoing investigation,” the letter ends.

The news comes almost two months after the FBI executed its search warrant of Mr Trump’s home for reportedly not turning over documents it is required to give to NARA.