According to a new report, special counsel Jack Smith wanted to know if former President Donald Trump hid even more classified national security documents in a locked closet at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The “hidden room” was apparently not opened by FBI agents who executed a search warrant on August 8, 2022 and seized 102 sensitive intelligence files at Trump’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida, sources told ABC News.
The 45th president, 77, allegedly had a resort employee change closet locks while one of his attorneys searched a basement storage room in an attempt to comply with a federal subpoena and hand over some of the documents before the search, sources said. .
The room is reportedly located in Trump’s bedroom, behind a dresser and a television.
A senior FBI official told the outlet that the search was conducted only in areas that could have contained classified government documents “based on information collected during the course of the investigation.”
Special prosecutor Jack Smith investigated whether former President Donald Trump hid even more classified documents in a locked closet at his Mar-a-Lago estate, according to a new report. AP The former president allegedly had a resort employee change the closet locks while one of his lawyers searched a basement storage room to comply with a federal subpoena and turn over some of the documents before the search. AP
“Discussions regarding additional areas of the property were held that day and it was determined that the actions already taken met the parameters of the search warrant,” the official said.
The line of questioning by prosecutors in Smith’s office was intensely pursued in the months leading up to the former president’s indictment on June 9, 2023, according to ABC.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung dismissed the report as a “witch hunt led by Joe Biden.”
The “hidden room” was apparently not opened by FBI agents who executed a search warrant on August 8, 2022 and seized 102 sensitive intelligence files at Trump’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida, sources told ABC News. AP
“These witch hunts led by corrupt Joe Biden, aided by fake news in the mainstream media, are just desperate attempts at election interference aimed at trying to disenfranchise voters because President Trump dominates the polls,” he said Cheung in a statement.
“This is all vile politics by President Trump’s enemies because they will do everything in their power, including using the law as a weapon, to stop the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and next president of the United States.”
Neither Smith’s office nor the FBI immediately responded to a request for comment. Christopher Kise, Trump’s attorney in the Miami federal case, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A month after the Mar-a-Lago search, Biden, 81, said Trump’s alleged withholding of the documents was “totally irresponsible,” but his lawyers did not disclose their own files at both locations to the federal authorities until after the 2022 midterm elections. Getty Images
President Biden is also under federal investigation for hoarding confidential documents in his office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., and next to his prized 1967 Corvette Stingray in the garage of his Delaware mansion.
A month after the Mar-a-Lago search, Biden, 81, said Trump’s alleged withholding of the documents was “totally irresponsible,” but his lawyers did not disclose their own files at both locations to the federal authorities until after the 2022 midterm elections.
The FBI quietly searched the Penn Biden Center in November of that year, as well as the president’s home and Rehoboth Beach vacation home in January 2023, but only documents were found at the personal residence.
Smith charged Trump with 37 counts for allegedly withholding the documents, some of which included national defense information, hiding them from both his lawyer and federal authorities seeking them. AFP via Getty Images
Special prosecutor Robert Hur is reportedly not expected to bring charges against the sitting president.
Smith initially charged Trump with 37 counts of allegedly withholding the documents – some of which included national defense information – by concealing them from both his lawyer and federal authorities seeking them.
The charges followed a protracted battle between Trump and the National Archives over many of the sensitive files in 2021, with the threat of a Justice Department investigation if the documents were not returned in time.
One of Trump’s lawyers subsequently handed over 38 classified documents to the FBI and the Justice Department on June 3, but his valet Walt Nauta “on Trump’s orders” removed the boxes containing other documents from the warehouse and returned them. to the primary residence without the attorney’s knowledge. AP
Federal prosecutors opened their investigation in March 2022, a grand jury was empaneled the following month, and Trump received a subpoena for the records on May 11, according to the indictment.
One of Trump’s lawyers later handed over 38 classified documents to the FBI and the Justice Department on June 3, but prosecutors say valet Walt Nauta “at Trump’s direction” removed boxes containing other files from the warehouse and returned them. to the main residence without the authorization of the lawyer. knowledge.
Nauta was charged as a co-defendant with conspiring to hide the documents, along with Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira, who allegedly helped move some of the boxes and was told by Trump to delete the camera footage. security of the incident.
A superseding indictment filed in July slapped the former president with three more charges.
Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon set a trial date of May 20, 2024 for the case in the Southern District of Florida.
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