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He was asked by the National Archives beginning in May of 2021 to return the docs. It’s after being ignored that in June they notified Trump that they will refer the matter to the justice department if there is no compliance. It wasn’t until December that 12 boxes had been compiled for return. In January a total of 15 boxes were shipped to the archives. First shipment. Noting that there were gaps, the Archives finally refers the matter to the FBI in February, 2022. Also that same month Trump insists the “papers were given easily and without conflict and on a very friendly basis,” and adds, “It was a great honor to work with” the National Archives “to help formally preserve the Trump Legacy.” At the end of March, 2020 the FBI opens their investigation. In mid May, 2020, the grand jury issued a subpoena to turn over all classified documents and materials. In June of 22, more than a year after the initial request, FBI agents visit Mar-A-Lago to retrieve 38 documents. Seeing additional boxes and requesting to see them, they are explicitly prohibited from viewing the contents to ascertain if classified documents remained. All the while Trump maintains he’s an open book. In June, Trump is sent notice to secure the room where the documents were stored and secure all materials taken from the WH. In July, those materials were moved as seen on security video. In August the FBI raids and numerous docs are found causing the Justice Department to question the seriousness of Trumps legal team about the diligence of their search. In June, the grand jury returns an indictment.

My point all along is why did it take an FBI visit at all.

It doesn't matter what the Archives asked him to do, he still disputed their authority to ask. He claimed the Presidential Records Act and acted accordingly.

Are you saying that NARA has authority over the President? The President wants SCOTUS to define the authority of the Presidential Records Act, not NARA, and is withholding from NARA until SCOTUS rules.

Why do you have a problem with Americans taking advantage of their due process rights?

-PJ

He was asked by the National Archives beginning in May of 2021 to return the docs. It’s after being ignored that in June they notified Trump that they will refer the matter to the justice department if there is no compliance.

If the President classified a document as Personal and the Archivist classifies it as Presidential, from where does the Archivist obtain the authority to classify a document as either Personal or Presidential, or to overrule the President?

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652.407.0.pdf

With respect to the proposed language pertinent to the issue of “unauthorized possession” specifically, the parties must engage with the following competing scenarios and offer alternative draft text that assumes each scenario to be a correct formulation of the law to be issued to the jury, while reserving counterarguments.
(a) In a prosecution of a former president for allegedly retaining documents in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 793(e), a jury is permitted to examine a record retained by a former president in his/her personal possession at the end of his/her presidency and make a factual finding as to whether the government has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that it is personal or presidential using the definitions set forth in the Presidential Records Act (PRA).³
(b) A president has sole authority under the PRA to categorize records as personal or presidential during his/her presidency. Neither a court nor a jury is permitted to make or review such a categorization decision. Although there is no formal means in the PRA by which a president is to make that categorization, an outgoing president’s decision to exclude what he/she considers to be personal records from presidential records transmitted to the National Archives and Records Administration constitutes a president’s categorization of those records as personal under the PRA.

Either (a) the jury has to see the document to make a finding of fact beyond a resonable doubt that it is Personal or Presidential, or (b) A president has sole authority under the PRA to categorize records as personal or presidential during his/her presidency. Neither a court nor a jury is permitted to make or review such a categorization decision.

Judge Aileen Cannon, March 18, 2024.