Rep. Jamie Raskin says the Justice Department may have just handed Congress explosive evidence against its own boss—by mistake.
In a sharply worded letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee claims newly disclosed documents reveal that Donald Trump retained highly sensitive classified materials tied directly to his personal business interests—and may have even shown them off in private settings, HuffPost reports.
“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,” Raskin wrote, adding that the materials appear to involve Trump’s financial interests and were handled in ways that raise serious national security concerns.
According to Raskin, one particularly alarming detail involves Trump allegedly displaying a classified map aboard his private plane, with witnesses present—including longtime ally Susie Wiles. The Maryland Democrat is now demanding answers about who was on that flight, what the map contained, and whether any foreign individuals may have seen it.
At the center of the controversy is a batch of documents the Justice Department recently provided to the House Judiciary Committee—apparently as part of a broader effort to support Republican-led scrutiny of former special counsel Jack Smith.
That effort backfired.
“Apparently blinded by the frenzied search to find any scrap of evidence… you have, quite amazingly, missed the fact that some of the documents you provided include damning evidence about your boss’s conduct,” he wrote.
In other words, in trying to discredit the investigation into Trump, the DOJ may have inadvertently strengthened it.
The underlying case dates back to Trump’s removal of classified materials from the White House in 2021—documents that, according to the original indictment, included highly sensitive intelligence on U.S. military capabilities, nuclear programs, and potential vulnerabilities.
Raskin says the newly surfaced materials go even further, suggesting a possible motive: that some of the documents were directly tied to Trump’s business dealings.
The development raises a troubling question —was classified information being retained not for national security, but for personal gain?
The stakes are even higher given the current geopolitical climate. Raskin warned that if any of the materials—particularly those related to U.S. military posture—were exposed improperly, it could put American lives at risk, especially as U.S. forces remain engaged in the escalating conflict with Iran.
Despite the seriousness of the claims, the case itself remains stalled. After Trump’s 2024 election victory, Jack Smith dropped the prosecution, and a report detailing the classified documents investigation has been blocked from public release by a federal judge.
Meanwhile, House Republicans led by Jim Jordan have been aggressively investigating Smith, framing the original probe as politically motivated.
The Justice Department is now pushing back on Raskin’s claims. A spokesperson dismissed the allegations as partisan attacks, insisting the department has been transparent and that any sensitive material was properly redacted.
But Raskin isn’t backing down. He’s now calling for a classified briefing to get to the bottom of what exactly the DOJ turned over—and whether, in its rush to defend Trump, it accidentally exposed something far more damaging.
Because if his claims hold up, this wasn’t just a document dump. It was a mistake that could reopen one of the most serious criminal cases against Trump—and raise new questions about what was taken, why it was kept, and who may have seen it.
