House Judiciary Committee Democrats are pressing the Justice Department to stop what they call a cover-up of former special counsel Jack Smith’s full investigation into President Donald Trump’s retention of classified records. Newly provided materials, they say, indicate some documents were kept to advance Trump’s business interests and may have been shared in ways that risked national security.
Ranking Member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi asserting the DOJ has supplied only a limited, “cherry‑picked” subset of evidence while House GOP Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) seeks a narrow selection intended to portray Smith as partisan. Raskin said some of the produced records contain what he called “damning evidence” about the president’s behavior and may violate a gag order the DOJ sought from Judge Aileen Cannon, who last month permanently blocked public release of Smith’s final report in the documents case.
Among the materials given to the committee is a Jan. 13, 2023 prosecutors’ memorandum reporting the FBI concluded Trump retained records “that would be pertinent to certain business interests.” Prosecutors tied that retention to a motive connected to Trump’s businesses and said it represented “an aggravated potential harm to national security.” The memo also notes a “particularly sensitive document” that had previously been accessible to an estimated six people inside the U.S. government, including the president, before it was moved to his private property.
The memorandum further reports that prosecutors identified a classified map the committee believes Trump may have shown to people aboard his private airplane during a June 2022 flight. Susie Wiles, then CEO of Trump’s super PAC and now White House chief of staff, is reported to have been on the flight and to have “witnessed this event.” Raskin included a copy of the flight manifest with the committee materials; it lists 14 passengers but the names were redacted in the version provided to lawmakers.
Because the committee does not have access to the second volume of Smith’s final report, Raskin said lawmakers cannot confirm what the map depicts, how the classified materials tie to Trump’s business dealings, or the exact nature of the especially sensitive document. He pointed to contextual developments around that time that raise questions about potential foreign business connections:
– Around June 2022, Trump was reportedly negotiating partnerships with Saudi-backed LIV Golf and with Dar al Arkan, a Saudi state-linked real estate firm.
– A month after the flight, in July 2022, Trump played golf at his Bedminster club with Yasir al-Rumayyan, governor of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, who later provided sizable funds to the Trump family as its finances tightened.
– Reporting also recounts Trump referencing classified records about a possible bombing of Iran and boasting of possessing Pentagon war plans “done by the military and given to me.”
Raskin warned that if the map concerned U.S. military posture in the Middle East and was shown to any foreign official — Saudi or otherwise — it would amount to a grave betrayal of U.S. service members involved in hostilities with Iran. He said the DOJ holds evidence suggesting Trump jeopardized national security to benefit family businesses and demanded disclosure of what secrets were exposed and whether any financial advantage resulted.
The congressman asked the DOJ to detail who accessed the classified materials, whether any foreign actors were given access, and what the documents actually contain. Chioma Chukwu, executive director of watchdog American Oversight, said Judge Cannon’s decision to seal Smith’s full report keeps the public from crucial information about what she called “one of the most serious national security scandals in American history,” and accused the judge of favoring the president’s personal interests over transparency.
After Raskin’s letter became public, the Justice Department pushed back, accusing Raskin and Smith of being “blinded by hatred of President Trump” and calling the letter a political stunt mirroring the “corrupt Jack Smith prosecution team.” Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee replied that the administration was engaging in “legal gymnastics” to block release of Smith’s full report on allegations that Trump removed classified documents to further corrupt business interests, asking why the report should remain sealed if the DOJ truly had confidence in the president’s conduct.
Committee Democrats say the new documents add to a broader record suggesting the Trump family profited during and after his presidency. Media reports cited by the committee note substantial cryptocurrency gains by family members since his return to office and investments by Trump’s sons in a drone company seeking Pentagon contracts amid renewed U.S. military activity in the Middle East.
This article was originally published by Common Dreams and is republished under a Creative Commons license.
