调查1月6日美国国会大厦遇袭事件的众议院特别委员会主席周一表示,要知道调查是否受到以下发现的影响还为时过早唐纳德·特朗普去年他离开白宫时,带走了几箱总统记录。
美国国家档案馆官员周一证实,该机构最近从前总统在佛罗里达州的马阿拉戈俱乐部取回了15箱总统记录,这些记录在他结束白宫任期后被“不当”移走。
据国家档案员大卫·费里罗(David Ferriero)称,特朗普的代表正在“继续搜索”更多可能被不正当地从白宫拿走的记录。
消息人士告诉美国广播公司新闻,这些文件是上个月检索到的,包括特朗普和朝鲜领导人金正恩之间的通信,以及前总统巴拉克·奥巴马给特朗普的一封信,这封信是在特朗普就职典礼前按照惯例留下的。
官员们表示,根据《总统档案法》的要求,这些记录应该在2021年1月特朗普政府结束时从白宫移交给国家档案和记录管理局(NARA)。
费里罗说:“每当我们得知记录被不当删除或没有被适当转移到官方账户时,NARA都会寻求归还记录。
《华盛顿邮报》首先报道了从马拉加取回记录的消息。
艾尔·德拉戈/彭博通过盖蒂图像,文件
在这张2018年8月30日的档案照片中,美国总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)在一次采访中审阅文件.
特朗普的发言人没有回应美国广播公司新闻的置评请求。
上个月,美国最高法院铺平了道路作为调查的一部分,众议院委员会将于1月6日访问数百份国家档案记录。
委员会主席本尼·汤普森小姐。,他告诉美国广播公司新闻,现在知道特朗普对白宫记录的处理对委员会迄今为止的工作产生了什么影响,以及是否阻止了调查人员获得关键文件和记录,还为时过早。
汤普森周一表示,如果立法者认定特朗普故意违反《总统记录法》,委员会“将毫不犹豫地”向司法部提交刑事案件。
汤普森说:“我们将继续审查,如果审查表明有必要进行转诊,我们会毫不犹豫地进行。
消息人士称,正如美国广播公司新闻此前报道的那样,众议院调查人员发现,特朗普有将文件、笔记和其他白宫记录粉碎成小碎片的习惯,有时会让助手们争先恐后地从椭圆形办公室的地板上捡起来。
加州民主党委员会成员亚当·希夫(Adam Schiff)在接受美国广播公司(ABC News)采访时表示:“销毁文件、报告在马拉加拉戈有大量文件,都表明违反了保存记录的要求,撕毁文件当然看起来像是故意违反法律。
“我们将研究如何建立更有效的机制来确保合规,”希夫说。“人们对它有实质性的担忧,这种担忧不是从上一届政府开始的,但它肯定已经达到了一个新的高度。”
National Archives retrieves boxes of presidential records from Mar-a-Lago
The chairman of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol said Monday it was "too early" to know if the probe has been impacted by the discovery thatDonald Trumptook boxes of presidential records with him when he left the White House last year.
National Archives officials confirmed Monday that the agency recently retrieved 15 boxes of presidential records from the former president's Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida that were "improperly" removed after the end of his time in the White House.
According to National Archivist David Ferriero, representatives for Trump are "continuing to search" for more records that may have been improperly taken from the White House.
Sources tell ABC News that the documents, which were retrieved last month, included communications between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jung Un, as well as a letter from former President Barack Obama to Trump that was left as per custom ahead of Trump's inauguration.
Officials say the records should have been transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) from the White House at the conclusion of the Trump administration in January 2021, as required by the Presidential Records Act.
"NARA pursues the return of records whenever we learn that records have been improperly removed or have not been appropriately transferred to official accounts," Ferriero said.
The Washington Post first reported the news of the records being retrieved from Mar-a-Lago.
A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.
Last month the U.S. Supreme Courtpaved the wayfor the House committee investigating Jan. 6 to access hundreds of National Archives records as part of its probe.
Committee chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told ABC News that it was "too early" to know how Trump's handling of White House records has impacted the committee's work to date -- and whether it has prevented investigators from obtaining key documents and records.
Thompson on Monday said the committee "would not hesitate" to make a criminal referral to the Justice Department if lawmakers determine that Trump willfully violated the Presidential Records Act.
"We will continue to review, and if the review shows that a referral is warranted, we won't hesitate to do it," Thompson said.
As previously reported by ABC News, House investigators have discovered that Trump had a habit of shredding documents, notes and other White House records into little pieces that at times left aides scrambling to pick them up off the floor of the Oval Office, sources said.
"The destruction of documents, the reports of large quantities of documents in Mar-a-Lago, all point to a violation of the record-keeping requirements, and the tearing up certainly seems like a willful violation of the law," committee member Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told ABC News.
"We're going to look at how we can have a more effective mechanism of ensuring compliance," Schiff said. "There is substantive concern about it, and it's not a concern that began in the last administration, but it certainly has reached a new height."