There are three different sets of classified documents to discuss here:
1. In January 2022, the National Archives and Records Administration arranged for the transfer of 15 boxes of classified documents from Mar-a-Lago, a year after the initial deadline for turning over all classified documents as part of the Presidential Records Act.
As first reported by The Washington Post, the documents retrieved last month from the Florida property contained important records of communication along with Trump's self-described "love letters" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as well as a letter addressed to Trump from his predecessor, former President Barack Obama.
2. In June 2022, Trump's lawyers handed over 38 documents, which The Associated Press reports included five documents marked confidential, 16 marked secret and 17 marked top secret.
3. The third set, which the FBI seized in an August 2022 raid on Mar-a-Lago, included 33 boxes containing over 100 classified records, some of which were stored in office desks.
We still don't know too much about those documents, some of which were so highly classified that the FBI agents themselves couldn't review them. But court filings have clued us in to a taste of what was in the trove:
- An Executive Grant of Clemency re: Roger Jason Stone Jr.
- A document titled "Info re: President of France"
- Empty folders marked "return to staff secretary/military aide"
- A binder of photos
- One item labeled "potential presidential record"
As a reminder, Trump is facing seven counts in the indictment, including willful retention of information related to national defense, at least one charge of false statements and one charge related to obstruction of justice.
