Trump was repeatedly asked to return the documents which he refused to do. For over 6 months which necessitated the search of his propreties.
But internal messages, emails and letters — some released in recent days under the
Freedom of Information Act — tell a different story that raises questions about the Archives' official timeline in the Trump dispute.
For instance, new internal messages between Archives staff show that a full week after Wall's letter to Congress, a senior NARA official was still seeking data about the FBI probe.
"Need the case number for the FBI review," NARA liaison to the Biden White House John Laster wrote in a text message dated Aug. 23 of last year.
"I think it's LW 2022-070," a colleague texted back. "This is the FBI review of the 15 boxes correct?"
"Correct," Laster responded.
Months earlier, but well after the NARA referral to the FBI, the Archives was deeply involved in the probe when it fielded a request in April 2022 from the Biden White House to facilitate FBI "special access" to 15 boxes of documents Trump had returned to the Archives, some of which contained the classified memos, according to a letter from the Archives to one of Trump's attorneys.
"On April 11, 2022, the White House Counsel's Office — affirming a request from the Department of Justice supported by an FBI letterhead memorandum — formally transmitted a request that NARA provide the FBI access to the 15 boxes for its review within seven days, with the possibility that the FBI might request copies of specific documents following its review of the boxes," the Archives wrote in a May 10, 2022 letter to Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran.