WASHINGTON — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump are locked in a new legal battle over whether all critical materials sought by the U.S. Justice Department have been turned over for a sprawling investigation into whether classified documents were mishandled and laws were obstructed, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department has notified Trump’s lawyers that it isn’t sure the government has retrieved all necessary documents following multiple efforts to recover them, including subpoenas and a controversial search of Trump’s Florida resort in August, according to the people, who asked not to be named speaking about the sensitive matter.
Trump’s legal team has yet to provide the department a fulsome response, indicating bitter divides and disarray over strategy and next steps by the lawyers. Talks between the lawyers and Justice officials are ongoing and the department’s next move isn’t clear, but one option is another search.
Trump’s lawyers didn’t immediately return requests for comment. The Justice Department declined to comment.
The New York Times reported earlier on the Justice Department’s communication with Trump’s lawyers.
The investigation into the classified material and request for clarification whether there are other documents unaccounted for is being led by Jay Bratt, who heads the department’s counterintelligence and export control section.
The department has indicated in its communications with Trump’s team and in court filings that an open question in particular is whether classified material is missing from folders that were found empty but marked for holding secret documents, according to one of the people.
But the department’s communications have generated doubt and debate for Trump’s lawyers about whether the department actually knows documents are missing and wants the lawyers to make written declarations in response. Some of Trump’s lawyers apparently view that as a potential trap that could land them in legal jeopardy, further exacerbating tensions on Trump’s team.
It wasn’t clear if the department believes other documents might be located in places other than Trump’s Florida resort.
Debra Steidel Wall, the acting Archivist of the United States, wrote in a Sept. 30 letter that her agency was still missing Trump administration records. The letter to Representative Carolyn Maloney, chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, didn’t specify whether National Archives officials believed Trump himself still had records, referring lawmakers to the Justice Department “in light of its ongoing investigation.”
Wall noted that the Justice Department was already engaged in litigation to retrieve emails from a personal account that former Trump adviser Peter Navarro used to conduct official business.
“While there is no easy way to establish absolute accountability, we do know that we do not have custody of everything we should,“ Wall wrote.
