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Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Federal prosecutors have opened a grand jury probe into whether former U.S. President Donald Trump mishandled classified records that ended up at his Florida residence, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing two people briefed on the issue.

Prosecutors have issued a subpoena to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to obtain the documents, the report said. Authorities have also made interview requests to people who worked in the White House in Trump’s final days in office, it said.

A grand jury probe suggests the Justice Department has advanced in its inquiry, which began after NARA said it had recovered 15 boxes of documents, including classified records, that Trump took to his Mar-a-Lago estate when he left the White House in January 2021.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump has previously confirmed that he agreed to return certain records to the Archives, calling it “an ordinary and routine process.”

A federal law called the U.S. Presidential Records Act requires the preservation of memos, letters, notes, emails, faxes and other written communications related to a president’s official duties.

(Reporting by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Grant McCool)