FBI investigating how classified information from the Trump White House ended up in Mar-a-Lago, reports say

• The FBI is in the early stages of an investigation into how classified material ended up in Trump's Florida home, reports say.
• The material was found in 15 boxes of records wrongly removed from the White House.

The FBI is in the early stages of an investigation into how classified material ended up in former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home after he left office, reports say.

The investigation was launched following the discovery by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) of 15 boxes of records and other items at Trump's Florida property that were taken there after he left office in January 2021. Those records should have been handed over to the National Archives.

The launch of the Justice Department investigation, which is being led by the FBI, was first reported by The Washington Post, and later confirmed by The New York Times and NPR.

Insider has contacted the DOJ for comment. The FBI said it would neither confirm nor deny the investigation was taking place.

In February, Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed that classified material had been found in the boxes at Mar-a-Lago and that the matter had been referred to the DOJ.

The specific stage of the DOJ investigation is unclear, The Post reported, and it is not known if federal officials have started examining the content of the boxes or have sought to interview those who assembled them or arranged for their removal.

A separate investigation into the possible mishandling of the classified material is being conducted by the House Oversight Committee, whose chairwoman, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, accused the DOJ on Thursday of obstructing its probe.

The DOJ, she said, had blocked NARA from providing an inventory of items found in the Mar-a-Lago boxes to the panel.

According to multiple reports, the material was taken during Trump's hasty and tumultuous exit from the White House.