WASHINGTON, March 25 - Newly released Justice Department records connected to the dismissed classified documents case have prompted renewed concern among Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee about both national security and possible private business motivations, according to the committee’s top Democrat.
The materials, delivered to the Republican-led committee as part of its review of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations, include a 2023 FBI memo indicating that the classified files retained by the former president after he left office were "pertinent to his business interests" and that some of those records were found commingled with other documents created at a later time, U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin said.
Raskin said the disclosures also reveal that several of the classified items were "so sensitive that only six people in the entire U.S. government had access to them." He added that one box of documents was scanned, saved on a Trump aide’s laptop for nearly two years, and ultimately uploaded to a cloud location, a detail Raskin highlighted as an additional security concern.
The newly released packet of records further reportedly shows that the former president brought classified material aboard a June 3, 2022 flight to his New Jersey golf club and displayed a classified map to then top campaign official Susie Wiles and possibly others, according to Raskin’s letter to the Attorney General. Wiles now serves as White House chief of staff.
In a letter sent Tuesday to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Raskin wrote: "This glimpse into the trove of evidence behind the cover-up reveals a President of the United States who may have sold out our national security to enrich himself." He also raised the possibility that providing the records to the congressional committee could have breached a gag order imposed by the federal judge who handled the case.
The dismissed criminal case, brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, accused the former president of illegally storing materials related to U.S. national defense, including matters connected to the American nuclear program, at his Mar-a-Lago club and of obstructing government efforts to retrieve those materials. Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed jurist who oversaw the case, dismissed the charges in 2024 on the ground that Smith had been improperly appointed as special counsel. The same judge last month barred the Justice Department from releasing the prosecutor’s report on the matter.
Responding to Raskin’s letter, the Justice Department posted a statement on X on Wednesday that accused Raskin of being "blinded by his hatred of Trump" and characterized the letter as "a cheap political stunt." The department also denied that any judicial orders had been violated by the release of the records, calling that accusation "baseless."
The White House reiterated the former president’s denials of wrongdoing. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement: "It’s pathetic that Democrats with zero credibility like Jamie Raskin are still clinging to deranged Jack Smith and his lies in 2026. President Trump did nothing wrong." The former president has denied any misconduct in the documents case and in a separate federal matter that accused him of attempting to overturn the 2020 election; that separate case was dismissed after Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
Raskin’s letter also flagged particular concerns about the former president’s business dealings in the Middle East at the time, citing entities named in the disclosure including Saudi-backed LIV Golf and Saudi developer Dar Al Arkan. He connected those references to potential risks given the Republican president’s current war in Iran.
Raskin wrote: "If this map is related to our military posture in the Middle East, and it was in fact shown to any foreign official, Saudi or otherwise, that would amount to an unforgiveable betrayal of our men and women in uniform who are currently valiantly fighting in President Trump’s disastrous war against Iran."
The documents provided to lawmakers included a flight manifest for the June 3, 2022 trip showing a map of the plane’s route from Palm Beach, Florida to LaGuardia Airport in New York, with passenger names redacted. In his letter, Raskin requested that the Justice Department identify the passengers on that flight and supply other information about the disclosed documents by March 31.
Context and procedural status
The file transfer to the congressional committee grew out of its inquiry into the handling and oversight of Special Counsel Smith’s investigations. The judge who presided over the classified documents case dismissed criminal charges against the former president in 2024 and then limited subsequent releases of prosecutorial materials, creating a procedural backdrop that Raskin says could make the committee’s receipt of the records problematic under a judicial gag order.
Next steps
Raskin has set a March 31 deadline for the Justice Department to identify passengers on the June 3, 2022 flight and to provide additional requested information about the disclosed documents. The Justice Department has publicly denied that the release of records violated any judicial instructions, while committee Democrats continue to press concerns about national security and private business motives.