Trump alleges that the National Archives allowed him to leave White House with classified documents

Former President Donald Trump's lawyers allege in a letter that the National Archives "declined" to help him pack up his office in the last days of his administration, resulting in him unknowingly taking classified documents back to his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. 

"When President Trump left office, there was little time to prepare for the outgoing transition from the presidency," the letter obtained by the Washington Post and other media organizations reads. "Unlike his three predecessors, each of whom had over four years to prepare for their departure upon completion of their second term, President Trump had a much shorter time to wind up his administration," the letter continues.

"White House staffers and General Service Administration ('GSA') employees quickly packed everything into boxes and shipped them to Florida. This was a stark change from the standard preparations made by GSA and National Archives and Records Administration ('NARA') for prior administrations."

Trump's lawyer, Timothy B. Parlatore, referred to the politicization of NARA.  

"NARA unfortunately has become overtly political and declined to provide archival assistance to President Trump's transition team," Parlatore wrote.

He argued in the letter that if the National Archives staff had helped with packing up Trump's office in the final days, "he would have accepted the offer and there would have been no reason to transfer the documents to Mar-a-Lago."

The former president's Florida home was raided by the FBI in August 2022 to seize classified documents that had been removed from the White House. Many GOP officials and Trump have called the action political and unprecedented.