Trump claims pardons, immigration records count as personal property

Driving the news: Trump argued that the documents belong to him, but the DOJ wrote in its response that they are covered by the Presidential Records Act.

• The act dictates that the U.S. government retains complete ownership, possession and control of records created or received by a president — and that they must be turned over to the National Archives upon the president's departure from the White House.
• The DOJ noted that some of the documents, such as the pardon packages, were clearly addressed to Trump in his official capacity and not his personal capacity.

Worth noting: The dispute is likely a preview of larger conflicts revolving around the roughly 13,000 documents retrieved from Mar-a-Lago.

The big picture: Last week, the Justice Department officially appealed the decision to appoint a special master to review the records.

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