WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump received a federal grand jury subpoena this spring for sensitive documents the government believed he retained after his departure from the White House, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News.

Conservative journalist John Solomon first reported Thursday afternoon that Trump was sent the subpoena months before the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida earlier this week. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the subpoena was related to documents that Trump's legal team discussed with Justice Department officials at a previously reported on June 3.

Those officials were "coming down to retrieve the documents that were being requested" in the subpoena, the source said, adding that the meeting was arranged with the Trump team's understanding that turning over relevant documents that day would fulfill the subpoena.

Citing "two sources briefed on the classified documents" sought in the subpoena, The New York Times reported Thursday that federal officials were prompted to conduct the search of Mar-a-Lago because uncollected material was particularly sensitive to national security.

The source familiar with the matter told NBC News that Trump's lawyers last heard from the Justice Department before the FBI search shortly after the June meeting when federal officials asked for additional security in the storage facility where documents were held. Trump's team added a second lock to the basement storage area, the source said.

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