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By Hollie Silverman
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The White House pushed back after House Democrats alleged that newly disclosed records from former special counsel Jack Smith’s probe contained “damning evidence” that President Donald Trump improperly retained highly sensitive classified materials, including documents tied to his business interests, following his first term in office.
The dispute escalated after the Department of Justice (DOJ) transmitted a January 2023 memo from Smith’s office to Congress, prompting a letter from Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, and a swift denial from the administration.
"I saw that letter from Congressman Raskin this morning. Who I would add has zero credibility. And this letter was clearly a cheap political stunt. what the congressman did here," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press conference on Wednesday.
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The memo summarized prosecutors’ work as of January 2023 and indicated that Trump possessed “highly sensitive” documents, including at least one previously accessible to only a handful of senior officials, and materials prosecutors said appeared pertinent to “certain business interests,” according to multiple outlets that reviewed the document.
The Context
The allegations arrived amid ongoing litigation over the special counsel’s authorities and a court order sealing parts of Smith’s report, raising questions about what Congress and the public can lawfully access.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon previously dismissed the classified documents criminal case after finding Smith’s appointment “unlawful,” though the Justice Department under former President Joe Biden appealed.
Cannon’s earlier attempt to appoint a special master in a related matter had been reversed by a three-judge panel. The new memo’s contents could intensify congressional pressure for broader disclosures while the court-ordered seal remains in place, NBC News reported.
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What To Know
Raskin sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on March 25 summarizing the memo’s contents and asserting that DOJ’s transmittal of materials to Congress may have contravened Cannon’s order restricting public disclosure of special counsel materials.
The DOJ this month transmitted to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees a January 13, 2023, memo summarizing the steps in Smith’s classified documents investigation, according to NBC News.
The memo stated that the FBI had found that classified materials were “commingled with documents created after Trump left office” and that some documents “would be pertinent to certain business interests,” which prosecutors said suggested “a motive for retaining them,” Politico reported.
Prosecutors described “highly sensitive” documents, including one previously accessible to only about six senior officials, and wrote that Trump had “many documents” in so many places that “it is hard to fathom that he was not aware,” according to NBC News.
The memo also said prosecutors believed Trump may have shown a classified map to individuals while on a flight to his Bedminster, New Jersey club, an event they wrote was witnessed by Susie Wiles, now the White House chief of staff.
Leavitt dismissed the allegations as "untrue and salacious claims."
"He took untrue and salacious claims in a memo that was produced by Jack Smith, who has been completely discredited for his lawfare and his witch hunts against this president," Leavitt said at Wednesday's press conference, adding, "and that information was unverified. It never even made it into the indictment because it was so unverified."
Separately, Smith told Congress last year that his team had gathered “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 election before that case was dismissed after Trump’s 2024 victory, according to NBC News.
Who Is Jack Smith?
Smith served as special counsel overseeing two federal probes into Trump: one concerning alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election and another concerning retention of classified documents; the documents case was dismissed in 2024 on appointment grounds.
What Is the Arctic Frost Investigation?
Arctic Frost was the internal name for the FBI investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. It included requests for certain toll records to corroborate communications.
Separately, multiple outlets reported post-2024 dismissals and firings of personnel tied to Smith’s probes; at least 10 FBI employees linked to the classified documents case were fired on February 27, 2026, CBS News reported.
What Did Jack Smith's Memo Say About Classified Documents?
The January 13, 2023, memo said Trump retained "highly sensitive" documents, including one previously accessible only to six officials, and assessed that some of the retained materials were pertinent to business interests, which prosecutors said could provide a motive for retaining them.
It also relayed prosecutors’ belief that Trump may have shown a classified map to others aboard a plane to Bedminster, allegedly witnessed by Susie Wiles, now White House chief of staff, and noted the volume and dispersion of retained materials across locations, according to NBC News and Axios.
What People Are Saying
Representative Jamie Raskin said in a March 25, 2026 letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi: “These new disclosures suggest that Donald Trump stole documents so sensitive that only six people in the entire U.S. government had access to them, that the documents President Trump stole pertained to his business interests, and that Susie Wiles, then the CEO of Donald Trump’s super PAC, witnessed President Trump showing off a classified map to passengers on his private plane.”
A Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement posted to X: “We understand that Jamie Raskin, much like Jack Smith, is blinded by hatred of President Trump. However, he needs to get his facts straight — this Department of Justice is the most transparent in history in part because of our efforts to expose the weaponization of the Biden administration in full compliance with the law and the court.”
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson, in a Tuesday statement: “President Trump did nothing wrong, which is why he easily defeated the Biden DOJ’s unprecedented lawfare campaign against him and then won nearly 80 million votes in a landslide election victory.”
What Happens Next
Raskin requested that Bondi answer detailed questions about the memo’s references and release remaining investigative files, including the sealed second volume of Smith’s report, by the April deadlines he outlined. The DOJ said it complied with court orders in its production and disputed any violation.
Senate Judiciary Committee leaders plan to invite Smith to testify publicly in the coming months, where lawmakers are expected to question him about both the classified-documents probe and the 2020 election investigation, according to Politico.
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