Trump's resistance to giving back documents has led to concerns over obstruction, mishandling of documents and possible violations of the Espionage Act. Retrieval was necessary due to the sensitive nature of the documents that were not clearly secured at Mar-a-Lago.
Recent footage from a 60-day period shows a lot of traffic and people moving around an outer area outside the room where the Justice Department was in contact with Trump's team, indicating deception and active resistance from Trump and his lawyers during the investigation.
Trump's resistance to giving documents related to national security back to the authorities led to the FBI and the Department of Justice searching Mar-a-Lago for sensitive government documents not secured properly, violating rules around retention and mishandling of such documents.
Whether specific documents were classified is irrelevant to the potential charges against Trump or people around him, according to legal experts. The federal government alleges that they requested the documents back, but they couldn't retrieve them.
The US government has been in negotiations with Steve Bannon's lawyers for over 18 months to retrieve papers that Bannon had deemed confidential. Bannon's resistance to hand over the documents, some of which contain confidential information, may result in charges being brought against him or his aides.