The 15 boxes of White House records that were stored at former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence contained items marked as classified national security information, the National Archives and Records Administration said on Friday.
The agency said the matter has been referred to the Justice Department.
In a response to a February 9 letter to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, the National Archives confirmed reports that Mr Trump took government records with him to Florida after he left office in January 2021.
Members of the House of Representatives have opened an investigation and the National Archives has reportedly asked the Justice Department to look into the matter. The Justice Department and the FBI have not yet disclosed what they intend to do.
Mr Trump was unwilling to part with some of his administration’s records when he left the White House last year.
Although more than a dozen boxes have since been returned to the government, the discovery alarmed archivists and historians who were already sceptical of Mr Trump’s commitment to transparency.
The Presidential Records Act, which requires the preservation of White House documents, was passed in 1978 after the Watergate scandal, when a collection of secret tapes played a defining role.
Official records can still prove insightful once they become public, after being processed by the National Archives, which can take years.
Mr Trump last week denied as "fake" claims that he flushed presidential documents down the toilet at the White House.
The New York Times's Maggie Haberman, author of coming book on Mr Trump called The Confidence Man, said in a tweet: “White House residence staff periodically found papers had clogged a toilet, leaving staff believing Mr Trump had flushed material he'd ripped into pieces.”
Mr Trump’s erratic handling of documents could have more immediate effects than the eventual judgment of historians. The congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol is examining the former president’s actions that day, but finding gaps in official records such as call logs.
There’s also the potential for legal trouble if Mr Trump or his associates are determined to have mishandled any documents, especially if they’re classified. Presidents have the power to declassify any information they choose, but that expires after they leave office.
Concealing or destroying records is a crime carrying a prison term of up to three years; storing classified information in an unauthorised location can carry a sentence of up to five years.
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Donald Trump after his speech at a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 US presidential election results by Congress, in Washington, January 6, 2021. Reuters -
A pro-Trump mob breaks into the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. AFP -
Donald Trump and his wife Melania prepare to leave the White House on Marine One on January 20, 2021. AFP -
Donald Trump and Melania at Joint Base Andrews before boarding Air Force One for the last time as president on January 20, 2021. AFP -
Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Lorain County Fairgrounds on June 26, 2021 in Wellington, Ohio. AFP -
Donald Trump speaks during a visit to the border wall near Pharr, Texas on June 30, 2021. AFP -
Donald Trump at a press conference announcing a class action lawsuit against big tech companies at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, New Jersey on July 7, 2021. AFP -
The former president addresses a rally on September 25, 2021 in Perry, Georgia. AFP -
At a rally at the Canyon Moon Ranch festival grounds on January 15, 2022 in Florence, Arizona. AFP -
Trump supporters listen to speakers prior to an appearance by the former president at a rally on January 15, 2022, in Florence, Arizona. AP
Associated Press contributed to this report
