House Judiciary Republicans Tell Garland, Wray, Klain to Preserve Mar-a-Lago Raid Documents

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and 18 other Republican members of the panel instructed White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and FBI Director Christopher Wray “to preserve all documents, communications or other information” on the Aug. 9 Mar-a-Lago raid.

The instruction came in separate Aug. 15 letters that spelled out in detail what is to be preserved and left no doubt that, should Republicans regain control of the House in November’s election, they will make it a top priority to expose in a comprehensive manner details of the raid on former President Donald Trump’s private Florida estate.

The official justification for the raid, according to the search warrant made public on Aug. 12, is that Trump is suspected of possessing highly sensitive classified materials taken from the White House when he left it in January 2021. The affidavit filed in federal court in connection with the search warrant request has yet to be made public.

“You should construe this communication as an instruction to preserve all documents, communications, and other information, including electronic information and metadata, that are or may be potentially responsive to this inquiry,” the Republicans said in their letters.

“This instruction includes all electronic messages sent using official and personal accounts or devices, including records created using text messages, phone-based message applications, or encryption software,” the letters continued.

“For purposes of this request, ‘preserve’ includes taking reasonable steps to prevent the partial or full destruction, alteration, testing, deletion, shredding, incineration, wiping, relocation, migration, theft, mutation, or negligent or reckless handling that could render the information incomplete or inaccessible,” the letters said.

In the meantime, Jordan and his Republican colleagues on the House committee with oversight authority for the Department of Justice (DOJ), including the FBI, directed Klain, Garland, and

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