House Intel Chairman tells Trump to 'stop talking' after a Fox News appearance that may worsen Trump's legal struggles

• A top House Republican said Trump needs to "stop talking" about his handling of classified documents.
• Trump in a Fox News interview offered a new defense for his alleged mishandling of classified material.

A top House Republican told former President Donald Trump to "stop talking" about the alleged mishandling of classified documents that led Trump to become the first former president to face federal charges.

"So, I'm a lawyer. My first thought was, but he should stop talking," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday.

Turner, who previously said he could not "defend" Trump's conduct as alleged in the indictment, said that his panel is looking into why classified documents have been repeatedly found outside of their proper settings. Turner pointed to a National Archives and Records Administration official that testified to the House Intelligence Committee that classified documents have been found in unclassified boxes of presidential material since the Reagan administration. NARA, as it is known, is responsible for the preservation of historical records. Under the Presidential Records Act, NARA is responsible for planning for the storage of presidential records after a president leaves office.

Federal prosecutors have alleged that Trump improperly held onto classified records and then obstructed their retrieval after leaving office. The former president has denied any wrongdoing, but he offered a defense on Fox News on Monday night that may complicate his legal woes.

"I had boxes, I wanted to go through the boxes and get all of my personal things out," Trump told Fox News' Bret Baier when asked why he didn't hand over the records when Trump was subpoenaed to turn them over. "I don't want to hand them over to NARA yet, and I was very busy as you've sort of seen."

Trump, who prosecutors allege tried to hide boxes of records after being subpoenaed, said he did not turn the records over to give himself time to take out shirts and other personal items that were mixed in.

"These boxes were interspersed with all sorts of things, golf shirts, clothing, pants, shoes — there were many things."

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.