A spokeswoman for Cipollone declined to comment to the Post on Wednesday.
The newly reported email highlights efforts by the National Archives, which is charged with collecting and sorting through presidential materials, to recover Trump-era documents as the investigation into the handling of the presidential records heats up. The FBI executed a search warrant at the former president’s Florida residence earlier this month, with federal agents removing boxes of material from the property.
The Post noted that Stern “does not say in the email how he determined the boxes were in Trump’s possession” and that he also said in the email that he “raised this concern with Scott in recent weeks,” referring to Scott Gast. another Trump lawyer who was copied on the message.
And Stern, the paper said, cited in the email two notable documents that his agency “knew at the time were missing — letters from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a letter from former President Barack Obama early in the Trump presidency ».
“We know things are very chaotic as they are always in a year-long transition process,” he wrote in the email, according to the Post. “… But it is absolutely necessary that we obtain and account for all presidential records.”
Cipollone, along with his former deputy Patrick Philbin, were appointed by Trump shortly before he left office to deal with issues related to his presidential records.
The National Archives had previously announced at least 15 boxes of White House records were recovered from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in January — including some that were classified. And during its investigation earlier this month, the FBI discovered 11 sets of classified documents, including some material marked “top secret/SCI” — one of the highest levels of classification.
CNN previously reported that the Archives were working throughout 2021 to get the presidential records back from Trump. In the final weeks of the administration, the National Archives knew it was looking for certain documents because the White House records management office notified the Archives it had never received them from the President’s team — including Trump’s correspondence with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as well as the Hurricane Dorian map that Trump infamously altered with a Sharpie marker.
The Archives knew that White House records management had identified missing documents even before Trump left office, according to a familiar source. Additionally, the Archives knew about the two dozen boxes at the residence even while Trump was in office, the source said.
There was no inventory or documentation of exactly what was in these boxes.
Shortly after Trump left office, negotiations to return the documents began between the Archives and Trump’s team, according to the source. There have been repeated phone calls and communications to try to get the boxes back, but to no avail, the source said.
In January, Trump agreed to return 15 boxes — not the 24 boxes the Archives knew about — kept at his Mar-a-Lago residence — boxes that the Archives found contained classified documents.
CNN’s Evan Perez and Gabby Orr contributed to this report.
