The purported text of the letter was published by conservative journalist John Solomon on Monday night According to the letter, the 700 pages of classified material they refer to were found in 15 boxes retrieved by the Archives from Mar-a-Lago in January. Trump had authorized Solomon as one of his National Archives liaisons to review documents from his presidency. Aerial view of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, August 15, 2022. Marco Bello/Reuters, FILE The released version of the letter confirms an earlier report by ABC News that documents with the highest levels of classification were found, including some marked “Special Access Program.” “As the Department of Justice’s National Security Directorate explained to you on April 29, 2022: There are significant national security interests in the FBI and others in the Intelligence Community who have access to these materials. According to NARA, among the materials in the boxes are over 100 classified documents, comprising more than 700 pages,” the letter said. “Some involve the highest levels of classification, including Special Access Program (SAP) materials. Access to the material is not only necessary for the purposes of our ongoing criminal investigation, but the Executive Branch must also conduct an assessment of the potential harm that emerge from an obvious manner in which these materials were stored and transported and take the necessary corrective action.” While Solomon chalked it up to President Joe Biden taking a more direct role than previously known in the Justice Department’s investigation into classified material at Mar-a-Lago, the letter actually shows how Biden has postponed all decisions about with the claims of executive privilege entirely on top Justice Department lawyers. A view of the National Archives Research Center, February 23, 2022, in Washington, DC Roy Rochlin/Getty Images The Archives did not respond to ABC’s request for comment on the authenticity of the letters. Trump’s lawyer also did not respond. The White House did not immediately respond to ABC’s request for comment. The letter details the back-and-forth between the Trump team and the National Archives, and shows that although the original 15 boxes were recovered from Mar-a-Lago in January, federal investigators did not ultimately gain access to them until months later, due to negotiations with Trump’s lawyers. The letter also reveals that the Department of Justice and the National Archives have decided there is no basis for us to claim privilege over the 15 boxes of records obtained. The letter also makes clear that Trump’s Archives representatives must have the appropriate level of security clearance to review the documents they request to review.
