The US federal government discovered more than 700 pages of classified material from former President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in January in addition to material seized this month by FBI agents, as per a letter from the National Archives to Trump's attorney.

The National Archives and Records Administration recovered a large amount of classified material in 15 boxes in January, some labeled "top secret," the letter added.

The Justice Department informed Trump that the FBI and other members of the US Intelligence Community required access to the materials due to important US national security interests.

The letter also stated that the Executive Branch needed to assess the potential damage caused by the way the sensitive documents were handled and stored.

NARA recovered the documents from Trump in 15 boxes in January. According to US media reports, these records did not include any records recovered from Trump during a meeting in June or the raid at his residence in August, according to the letter.

The letter, dated May 10, and sent by National Archivist Debra Wall to Trump's attorney Evan Corcoran, was made public late Monday on the website of John Solomon, one of Trump's authorized National Archives liaisons.

It is worth noting that the search on August 8 was part of a federal investigation into whether Trump illegally removed documents from the White House after his failed 2020 re-election bid, and whether he attempted to obstruct the government's investigation into the removal of the records.

Trump filed late Monday a lawsuit against the Justice Department, stressing that he was served with a grand jury subpoena on May 11 seeking additional classified records.