Prosecutors fleshed out new details about the ongoing criminal investigation into Trump’s possible mishandling of classified documents, which he took from the White House to his Florida compound and home. Trump and his allies have denied any wrongdoing.
In all, the US government has recovered more than 320 classified documents from Mar-a-Lago since January, including more than 100 seized in the August search, according to the DOJ.
The filing responds to Trump’s bid for a “special master” in a civil lawsuit against the Justice Department, weeks after the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago. The judge handling the case, a Trump appointee, has said his “preliminary intention” is to bring in a special master. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
Here are some key points from the presentation, what we learned and where we’re going.
The documents were moved and possibly hidden from investigators
The documents were “likely hidden and removed” from a storage room at Mar-a-Lago as part of an effort to “obstruct” the FBI’s investigation, the Justice Department said in its filing Tuesday.
Additionally, the DOJ said the search “raised serious doubts” about its attorneys’ claims that there had been a “diligent search” to return classified material in response to a grand jury subpoena.
A Trump lawyer signed a statement to the Justice Department in June certifying that all classified material at Mar-a-Lago had been returned.
“That the FBI, in a matter of hours, recovered twice as many classified documents as the ‘diligent search’ that the former president’s lawyer and other representatives had weeks to conduct serious questions about statements made in the June 3 certification and calls into question the extent of cooperation in this matter,” DOJ wrote.
DOJ rejects Trump’s criticisms and falsehoods about FBI probe
The Justice Department filing gave federal investigators a chance to rebut, on the record, many of the claims that Trump, his lawyers and political allies have made as they have slammed the unprecedented search of his residence by the FBI.
The DOJ wrote that the filing included a “detailed recitation of the relevant facts, many of which are provided to correct the incomplete and inaccurate narrative set forth in Plaintiff’s filings.”
The filing cited numerous examples refuting the Trump team’s claims about the search and what came before it.
For example, a senior DOJ official claims that federal investigators were limited in what they could look at when they visited the Mar-a-Lago resort in June, contrary to the Trump team’s narrative of full cooperation.
Trump’s lawyers did not claim the documents were declassified
The DOJ account also undermined claims by Trump and his allies that the former president had declassified the materials in question.
“When the documents were presented, neither counsel nor the custodian asserted that the former president had declassified the documents or asserted any claim of executive privilege,” the filing said.
“Instead, counsel treated them in a manner that suggested counsel believed the documents to be classified: the production included a single, double-taped, Redweld envelope containing the document,” added the fiscal
A picture is worth a thousand words
The last page of the 54-page court filing was a photo showing cover sheets of classified documents laid out on the floor of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago office, including documents with highly sensitive material such as human sources.
The photo drove home the message that the Justice Department appeared to be making its strongest defense yet of the search on Tuesday.
The government took custody of the Mar-a-Lago documents three times this year: Trump voluntarily turned over 15 boxes to the National Archives in January, Trump’s team turned over some materials under subpoena in June, and agents of the FBI seized 33 more boxes during Mar-a-Lago search earlier this month.
Prosecutors said FBI agents recovered more than 100 unique classified documents during the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago. (Researchers did not disclose how many of these were “top secret.”)
About the passport
Trump has attacked the FBI for taking his passports, even though they were later returned, claiming they were beyond the scope of the warrant and improperly seized.
But the government claimed the passports were found in a desk sweep containing classified documents, with government records “combined with other documents”.
“The location of the passports is relevant evidence in an investigation of the unauthorized retention and mishandling of national defense information; however, the government decided to return these passports at its discretion,” the DOJ wrote.
Special master would block review of national security risks, DOJ says
The Justice Department argued in a court filing on Tuesday that appointing a special master to review materials taken from Trump’s residence would harm national security, arguing it would delay the intelligence community’s ongoing review of the documents being released. they kept at Mar-a-Lago.
“The appointment of a special master would impede the government’s ongoing criminal investigation and, if the special master were tasked with reviewing classified documents, would prevent the Intelligence Community from conducting its ongoing review of national security risk that the improper storage of these highly sensitive materials may have caused and identify steps to rectify or mitigate any harm caused by improper storage,” Justice Department attorneys wrote.
The department highlighted these risks as it argued that the special master would be “unnecessary,” given that the DOJ’s internal filter team had already completed its work segregating potentially privileged documents from materials seized for privileged documents, and ” The government’s investigative team has already reviewed all remaining materials, including those that may be subject to claims of executive privilege.”
“Furthermore, the appointment of a special master would impede the government’s ongoing criminal investigation,” the DOJ argued.
The DOJ filing sets the stage for Trump’s response and Thursday’s hearing
With the new filing’s revelations, the clock is ticking for Trump to respond in another court appearance scheduled for Wednesday and then in court Thursday afternoon.
The deadline for Trump to file a written response to the department’s brief is Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.
Then on Thursday, both sides will argue before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, in federal court in West Palm Beach. On Saturday, Cannon indicated she was inclined to grant Trump’s request for a special master in the order she issued Saturday setting the briefing schedule. But he said he had not yet made a final decision on the matter.