Trump lawyers say Mar-a-Lago classified documents contained info on calls with foreign leaders
Trump’s Lawyers Defend Classified Documents
Lawyers of former President Donald Trump have come forward to defend the classified documents taken from Mar-a-Lago. They claim that the discovery of these documents says more about the White House’s institutional processes than any “criminal intent” by Trump.
Attorneys Criticize Justice Department and National Archives
The lawyers addressed a letter to Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) and sent it to committee members and other congressional leaders on Wednesday. The letter criticized the Justice Department and the National Archives and Records Administration for their inconsistency in handling the classified documents compared to those discovered in President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence‘s possession.
White House Staff Responsible for Misplaced Documents
The lawyers claimed that Trump had less time than his predecessors to gather and properly store documents. They also suggested that it is likely staff members were responsible for their placement among the things taken to Mar-a-Lago. “The vast majority of the placeholder inserts refer to briefings for phone calls with foreign leaders that were located near the schedule for those calls,” the lawyers wrote. “This organization of materials indicates that the White House staff simply swept all documents from the President’s desk and other areas into boxes, where they have resided ever since.”
DOJ is the “Wrong Agency” to Investigate
The lawyers said the DOJ is the “wrong agency” to investigate the handling of these documents and that the department “should be ordered to stand down,” claiming the Office of the Director of National Intelligence or the House Intelligence Committee should have spearheaded the investigation instead.
Congress Should Work to Enhance National Security
Trump’s lawyers’ statements echo the chairman himself. Turner said in an interview with Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo on Monday that the committee is looking into the misuse of classified documents. “We’re looking at how do we change the laws, how do we change the rules, and how do we address this so it doesn’t affect future administrations and it certainly shouldn’t affect these two,” he continued.
Instead of criminal investigations, Congress should work to shore up the transitional process and transfer procedure of documents. “Please know that despite the differences in the cases, we do not believe that any of these three matters should be handled by DOJ as a criminal case,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “Rather, the stakeholders to these matters should set aside political differences and work together to remediate this issue and help to enhance our national security in the process.”
Conclusion
Trump’s lawyers have defended the classified documents taken from Mar-a-Lago, claiming that the mishandling of these documents says more about the White House’s institutional processes than any “criminal intent” by Trump. They have criticized the Justice Department and the National Archives and Records Administration for their inconsistency in handling the classified documents and suggested that Congress should work to enhance national security by shoring up the transitional process and transfer procedure of documents.
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