Donald Trump took 'top secret' docs from National Archives before leaving WH: Report

Former US President Donald Trump allegedly fled with "top secret" files before leaving the White House, The Washington Post reported on Thursday citing sources. The media report claimed that the former President took the files to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The media report released that the secret documents were found by the National Archives-- a department in the United States responsible for storing and preserving the presidential records. According to the White House, the "top secret" files come under the highest level of classification, which could harm national security if released. As per the reports of The New York Times, "National Archives officials had uncovered suspected classified material among 15 boxes of letters and other documents". The officials confirmed all those documents were taken by Trump from the White House to his Florida compound before leaving office in January 2021. 

After discovering the documents, bureaucrats referred the matter to the Department of Justice on Thursday. Subsequently, the department directed the National Archives inspector general to initiate an investigation. Under the Presidential Records Act of 1978, the last administration's records are owned by the public, not the former president. Moreover, multiple media reports also claimed that the former President destroyed several classified documents. Earlier the sources of the New York Times claimed several official documents were found near White House toilets. "Those documents were torn carefully before throwing them near the toilets rooms," said the NYT source. 

What is Presidential Records Act?

The Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978, governs the official records of Presidents and Vice Presidents that were created or received after January 20, 1981 (i.e., beginning with the Reagan Administration). The PRA changed the legal ownership of the official records of the President from private to public and established a new statutory structure under which Presidents, and subsequently NARA, must manage the records of their Administrations. It was last amended in 2014.

Earlier, Trump tried to withhold a book (memoir) that contains details of his working 

Former US Defence Secretary Mark Esper, who worked closely with former US President Donald Trump, alleged that his memoir is improperly withheld by the department he worked for more than two years. According to a lawsuit filed by him in the District Court of Washington, his book, A Sacred Oath, is an "unvarnished and candid memoir" of his time spent in the Trump Cabinet.  "The period in which Esper was Pentagon chief was an unprecedented time of civil unrest, public health crises, growing threats abroad, Pentagon transformation, and a White House seemingly bent on circumventing the Constitution," the lawsuit read, as cited by AP. Meanwhile, a counter-lawsuit filed by the Department of Defense claimed the memoir was held under the guise of classification. However, Esper claimed it contains no "classified information" related to the department or the post he held. 

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