Trump Accuses Investigators of Planting Documents In Empty Folders – Rolling Stone

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Former President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that federal investigators planted documents in empty classified folders he happened to be hoarding at Mar-a-Lago. Trump, who has repeatedly claimed he legally retained and declared more than 300 documents found at his home, is trying to recast the controversy after the recovery of a significantly smaller cache of documents from at the home and office of President Joe Biden.

Trump claimed in a series of Truth Social posts that he kept “hundreds” of empty classification folders from meetings and briefings as a “cool keepsake.”

“Perhaps the Gestapo took some of these empty folders when they raided Mar-a-Lago and counted them as a document, which they were not,” Trump wrote. He went on to speculate that “the Trump Hating Marxist Thugs in charge will ‘plant’ documents while they are in possession” of the empty folders.

Trump baselessly suggested agents conducting the Mar-A-Lago investigation plant documents in empty classified folders he happened to be keeping. pic.twitter.com/devJHOlejR

— nikki mccann ramrez (@NikkiMcR) January 18, 2023

Along with more than 300 classified and “top secret” documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago, the FBI listed 48 folders labeled “CLASSIFIED” and 42 folders labeled “return to staff secretary /military aide” which was empty in their inventory of materials seized in their raid last August.

Since the raid, Trump has waged a protracted legal battle to prevent investigators from actually examining the contents of the recovered files. Trump insists that the documents both exist and are his personal property, and that he has broad authority to secretly declassify them at his own discretion (albeit telepathically). However, the president’s argument that most of the materials recovered were empty folders only now showed itself.

The move was likely prompted by the discovery of about a dozen classified documents at President Biden’s Delaware home and Penn Center office from his time as vice president. In contrast to Trump’s handling of his own investigation, the Biden White House has cooperated with authorities, and has indicated its belief that “a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and that the president and his lawyers acted immediately upon discovering this error. .” Editor’s pick

Despite months of attempts by both the National Archives, and later the Department of Justice, to recover documents from Mar-a-Lago before the raid, Trump added on the Truth Social Wednesday that his lawyers never was given the opportunity to cooperate with investigators.

Despite the flurry of negotiations and attempts by the National Archives and later the DOJ to retrieve documents from Mar-a-Lago before the raid, Trump said his lawyers were never given the opportunity to cooperate. to investigators pic.twitter.com/q8F36xaG60

— nikki mccann ramrez (@NikkiMcR) January 18, 2023

In June 2022, months before the raid, Trump’s lawyers signed an affidavit confirming that, to the best of their knowledge, they had turned over all classified materials kept at Mar-a-Lago. Eventually the DOJ was told there were still documents on the property and eventually moved forward with a warranted search of the property. Trending

The cases of both presidents are now being conducted under the supervision of special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

It is likely that the former president will continue to insist on a partisan witch hunt investigation against him. He gained strong support in Congress after Republicans won a majority in the House in November’s midterm elections. Trump-supporting representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has already signaled his desire to investigate the Department of Justice, alleging unfair scrutiny of Trump and favoritism toward Biden.

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