According to the letter, prosecutors identified a June 2022 incident in which Trump was allegedly “showing off a classified map to passengers” on his private aircraft while traveling to his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club. The memo also referenced other highly sensitive documents from Trump’s presidency, including material that was accessible to only a small number of U.S. officials. 

Raskin said the memo alleges that Susie Wiles, then the CEO of Trump’s super PAC and who now serves as White House chief of staff, witnessed the event.

Raskin wrote that the disclosures raise “grave national security concerns” and questioned whether the Justice Department under Bondi has fully accounted for who may have viewed the materials. 

Additionally, Raskin said the documents also included a memorandum from the FBI that claimed the information Trump retained “would be pertinent to certain business interests.”

The DOJ at the time of the investigation said the “classified documents pertinent to his business interests” and established “a motive for retaining them,” Raskin said. 

At the end of the letter, Raskin requested details about the contents of the documents, the identities of individuals who may have been exposed to them, which members of Trump’s family engaged in his business ventures saw or were made aware of the content, and the department’s rationale for not pursuing additional charges tied to the alleged incident. 

The allegations are part of renewed scrutiny of the classified documents case brought by former special counsel Jack Smith, who charged Trump in 2023 with unlawfully retaining national defense information at his Mar-a-Lago estate and obstructing efforts to recover it. 

The DOJ issued a statement in response to Raskin’s letter, dismissing concerns over Trump’s alleged actions.

“Jack Smith’s team was desperate to prosecute Biden’s top political opponent, so it is no surprise that his files contain salacious and untrue claims about President Trump,” the DOJ said. 

The case against Trump was later dismissed after he won the 2024 presidential election and returned to office, with the Justice Department citing long-standing policy against prosecuting a sitting president. A judge also ordered Smith’s final report sealed, limiting public access to details of the investigation. 

Raskin argued the newly revealed memo suggests prosecutors had gathered additional evidence beyond what was publicly known, accusing the department of releasing only “cherry-picked” documents to Congress. 

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He accused the DOJ of “covering up” evidence against Trump and emphasized the national security risks tied to the allegations, as the United States is at war with Iran. 

“It is now clear that [the] DOJ is in possession of evidence that President Trump has already endangered national security to further the interests of Trump family businesses,” Raskin said. “It is time for you to stop the cover-up and allow the American people to know what secrets he betrayed and how he may have cashed in on them. Our country is at war, American lives are at stake, and the answer to these questions has never been more pressing.”