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Two members of Donald Trump’s staff moved boxes before a prosecutor and FBI agents visited his Mar-a-Lago home to retrieve classified documents under a subpoena in June of last year, which are being viewed today by federal investigators as evidence of potential criminal obstruction, sources familiar with the matter said. in a matter told to The Washington Post.
The boxes were moved to the storage area on June 2, 2022, the day before Jay Bratt, a senior lawyer for the Department of Justice, arrived at the club with two FBI agents to collect the materials, the sources said. .
John Irving, an attorney for one of Trump’s two employees, said his client did not know what the boxes contained and was only trying to help Trump help Walt Nauta while he moved the boxes.
“He was seen on Mar-a-Lago security video helping Walt Nauta move boxes into a storage area on June 2, 2022. My client saw Mr. Nauta move the boxes and volunteered to help him,” Irving said, adding that the staff member helped Nauta load the SUV “when former president Trump left for Bedminster for the summer.”
Irving said the employee didn’t have “any reason to think helping move the boxes was so important” and cooperated with the government. Other people familiar with the investigation confirmed the staff member’s role and said authorities questioned him several times.
People familiar with the matter also said Trump and his aides held a “dress rehearsal” to move the documents before receiving the subpoena in May. They added that the Justice Department had found evidence indicating Trump sometimes kept classified documents open in his office and showed them to other people.
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Together, the Post wrote, these revelations suggest a broader scope of instances of possible interception under investigation than previously reported and expand the timeline of those events to a period of time stretching before May 2022 grand jury subpoena and subsequent August 8, 2022, FBI search of Mar-a-Lago.
This new information could mark an important turning point in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents, following reports that Trump’s lawyers have detailed his potential defense and requested of a meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland. These actions suggest Trump’s legal team believes a possible indictment is fast approaching, and some media reports have suggested it could come as soon as the Memorial Day holiday.
Trump’s legal problems, however, are not limited to the Mar-a-Lago documents case. Smith is also investigating the former president for his attempts to interfere with the results of the 2020 election and his incitement to the Jan. 6 uprising, while a Georgia district attorney is investigating the former president for others other election-related matters.
Trump also faces a recent 34-count criminal indictment for falsifying business records and a civil lawsuit alleging fraud from New York Attorney General Letitia James against his family’s business. He has denied wrongdoing in each case.
“This is nothing more than a targeted, politically motivated witch hunt against President Trump designed to interfere in an election and prevent the American people from returning him to the White House,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. “Like all the other fake hoaxes thrown at President Trump, this corrupt effort will fail.”
“In the course of negotiations to return the documents, President Trump told the top DOJ official, ‘whatever you need from us, just let us know,'” Cheung added. “The DOJ rejecting this offer of cooperation and conducting a raid on Mar-a-Lago proves that the Biden regime has weaponized the DOJ and FBI.”
Department of Justice officials said they conducted the search only after months of failed efforts to retrieve the documents from Mar-a-Lago.
Trump has tried to justify his handling of classified documents since leaving office, according to CBS News, incorrectly saying that presidents have the power to declassify documents “even by -thinking about it.”
“I was there and I took what I took and declassified it,” Trump told anchor Kaitlin Collins during CNN’s controversial town hall broadcast earlier this month.
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