The Justice Department said Tuesday that classified documents “likely were concealed and removed” from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as part of an effort to thwart a federal investigation into the discovery of government records. said.
The FBI also seized 33 boxes containing more than 100 classified records during a Mar-a-Lago raid on Aug. 8, and released filings showing the most detailed chronology yet of a tense month. They found classified documents hidden in Trump’s office, according to sources. Correspondence between Justice Department officials and Trump representatives over the discovery of government secrets.
Filings further show the vast amount of classified records obtained from Mar-a-Lago. It’s not just why investigators conducting criminal investigations were improperly kept there, but whether Trump’s team deliberately misled them about the continued and illegal existence of top-secret documents. It shows that the focus is also on the question of whether.
The timeline put forward by the Department of Justice is that the unusual search for Mar-a-Lago only took place after other efforts to recover the records failed, and despite assurances by law enforcement agencies that , attributed to law enforcement suspicions that additional documents remained on the property. A Trump representative said a “thorough investigation” had accounted for all the material.
Some of the seized documents also included photographs with clear classification marks. Perhaps as a way of refuting the suggestion that anyone who packed or handled them could not have easily understood their confidentiality.
The photograph shows the scattered covers of confidential documents bound with paper clips – some marked “TOP SECRET//SCI” with bright yellow borders, others with rust-colored borders “SECRET// Some are marked “SCI”. A blank white page spread out on the Mar-a-Lago carpet. Next to them sits a cardboard box containing gold-framed photographs, including the cover of Time magazine.
Although it contains important new details about the investigation, the Justice Department filings do not resolve the core issues that have driven public interest in the investigation. to return them. In fact, it suggests the authorities may not have received a response.
When FBI and Justice Department officials visited Mar-a-Lago on June 3, documents stated: Almost five months into the production of 15 boxes and almost a year and a half after the end of the regime. “
That visit to Mar-Arago, which took place a few weeks after the Department of Justice issued the subpoena for the record, has received considerable attention in the document and appears to be the focus of an important investigation.
Trump said he had declassified all the documents at Mar-a-Lago, but his lawyers did not suggest that during the visit, instead saying, “The lawyer believes the documents are classified. We treated them in a way that suggested they were,” according to the document.
FBI agents who went there to receive additional material were given “a single double-taped Redweld envelope containing the document,” the filing said.
According to the FBI, the envelope contained 38 unique documents, including 5 marked confidential, 16 marked top secret, and 17 marked top secret.
During that visit, Trump’s lawyers told investigators that all records sent by the White House were kept in one place, the Mar-a-Lago vault, and “other records,” according to the documents. was not kept in a private place,” he said. All available boxes were searched in office spaces or elsewhere on the premises. “
But the Department of Justice, which later subpoenaed video footage of the property, said, “Government records were likely covered up and removed from vaults, and efforts were likely made to thwart government investigations.” We have produced evidence that.” The filing does not identify the individual who may have moved the box.
Agents found classified documents in both the vault and the former president’s office during a search in August.
“In a matter of hours, the FBI recovered twice as many classified and marked documents as the ‘thorough investigation’ that the former president’s attorneys and other representatives had taken in weeks, and on June 3, It raises serious doubts about the statements made in the certification of , and casts doubt on the extent of cooperation in this matter,” the document said.
“In some cases, even FBI counterintelligence agents and reviewing Justice Department attorneys required additional clearance before they were allowed to review specific documents,” it said.
The investigation began with an inquiry from the National Archives and Records Administration, and 15 boxes were recovered from Mar-a-Lago in January, containing 184 classified documents containing classified information. It turns out.
The purpose of Tuesday night’s filing is in response to a request from Trump’s legal team for a special master to review documents seized during this month’s raid and set aside documents protected by claims of legal privilege. U.S. District Court Judge Eileen Cannon is scheduled to hear debate on the matter on Thursday.
Cannon said Saturday that it was her “preliminary intention” to appoint such a person, but gave the Justice Department the opportunity to respond.
On Monday, the department said it had already completed a review of potentially confidential documents and had identified a “limited set of materials that may contain confidential information of attorneys and clients.” A special master is therefore “not needed,” he said on Tuesday.
In another development, Trump’s legal team has grown with another lawyer. Former Florida Attorney General Chris Kise has joined the team of lawyers representing Trump, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Kise did not return a message requesting comment.