In January the National Archives retrieved more than 150 documents marked as classified from the former president. After the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago earlier this month, the government has recovered more than 300 documents with classified markings from Trump since he left office.
While the specific nature of the documents remains unclear, but the 15 boxes recovered in January included documents from the C.I.A., the National Security Agency and the F.B.I. spanning a variety of topics of national security interest.
In June Trump turned over a few dozen additional sensitive documents, but at the conclusion of the search this month, officials left with 26 boxes, including 11 sets marked classified. One set had the highest level of classification, top secret/sensitive compartmented information.
In a court filing on Monday, the former president and his lawyers accused the DOJ of treating Trump unfairly and asked a federal judge to appoint a “special master” to oversee a review of the classified documents and other materials seized at Mar-a-Lago.
In a statement released after the filing, Justice Department spokesperson Anthony Coley said, “The Aug. 8 search warrant at Mar-a-Lago was authorized by a federal court upon the required finding of probable cause. The Department is aware of this evening’s motion. The United States will file its response in court.”