The Archives was following up on information from the White House Office of Records Management that there were about two dozen boxes in the residence, according to the source.
There was a back and forth in September 2021 between the Archives’ chief counsel, Gary Stern, and former White House deputy counsel Pat Philbin, who was also a designee for the Archives regarding the Trump records, according to the source. The source said that the engagement was part of the ongoing process of getting the boxes back.
Stern asked Philbin about the records. Philbin asked Meadows and relayed to the Archives that Meadows said there were only 12 boxes. Philbin also relayed to the Archives that Meadows had said they were not aware of any other boxes.
Philbin has contended he was unaware of the contents of the boxes or that there was classified material inside, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Stern then reiterated to Philbin that the Archives had information that there were more boxes, it had a list of missing documents and to please keep looking.
While he was at Mar-a-Lago last summer, Meadows talked with Trump about the documents that the Archives was seeking to have returned, sources said. Meadows continued to work with the Archives in its efforts to recover documents since then, according to the sources.
“Mr. Meadows did not personally review the boxes at Mar A Lago and did not have a role in examining or verifying what was or wasn’t contained within them,” Meadows’ spokesperson Ben Williamson told CNN.
Philbin did not provide comment when asked by CNN. The Archives has not responded to CNN’s request for comment.
Read More:Trump team told National Archives that Mar-a-Lago boxes only contained news clippings
2022-09-17 00:23:00
