Donald Trump Lawyers Found Classified Documents At Mar-A-Lago After FBI Raid: Bombshell Court Filing
Prosecutors added that Trump's recent comments "invite the sort of threats and harassment that have occurred when other participants in legal proceedings against Trump have been targeted by his invective."
May 21 2024, Published 7:00 p.m. ET
A newly unsealed court filing revealed that Donald Trump’s attorneys allegedly found classified documents in the ex-president's bedroom at Mar-a-Lago four months after the FBI raid that led to his indictment for allegedly concealing national security materials and obstructing justice, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The bombshell came from a 2023 opinion written by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who presided over the first grand jury in the case. Special Counsel Jack Smith's team submitted the filing ahead of arguments this week in response to Trump's dismissal request.
Special Counsel Jack Smith is demanding a gag order on Trump.
Smith's filing was aimed to bolster the prosecution's argument that the former president knowingly stashed classified documents and attempted to conceal them from the Justice Department.
As Politico reported, Howell wrote that prosecutors had presented compelling evidence that Trump committed the alleged crimes, adding, “Notably, no excuse is provided as to how the former president could miss the classified-marked documents found in his own bedroom at Mar-a-Lago.”
She claimed that the four pieces of classified material were allegedly discovered after Trump's lawyers assured officials that all classified materials had been returned.
This Wednesday, the prosecution and defense are scheduled to make arguments regarding Trump's request to have the case dismissed.
The unsealed documents also include a series of photos and detailed accounts of how Trump's aides, including Walt Nauta, allegedly moved boxes of classified materials to evade detection. Nauta, who has been charged alongside Trump, is accused of lying to the FBI about his actions.
“In a footnote, Howell also noted that another Trump adviser connected to his Save America PAC had acknowledged scanning the contents of the box that contained the classified materials in 2021 and storing them on a personal laptop provided by the PAC,” Politico's Kyle Cheney reported.
The box containing the four records was eventually handed over to the FBI in January 2023, according to the judge's opinion.
Dozens of boxes of government records were found at Mar-a-Lago after Trump left office.
Trump’s legal team also used Howell’s opinion in its argument for case dismissal, citing “prosecutorial misconduct.” Howell did note a specific instance where a prosecutor improperly pressured another Trump attorney, Tim Parlatore, but clarified that this had limited relevance to the primary issues at hand.
Wednesday's proceedings will mark the first hearing related to the case since Trump-appointed judge Aileen Cannon postponed the matter indefinitely, citing unresolved issues. The trial had been scheduled to begin May 20, but Judge Cannon recently hinted that it may not start until late summer or later, aligning with Trump’s efforts to push proceedings past the 2024 election.
The Trump campaign insisted the post was not an official campaign ad.
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The former president faces 37 criminal charges for the alleged mishandling of hundreds of classified documents and obstruction of justice.
In January 2022, nearly a year after leaving office, he handed over boxes of nearly 200 documents with classified markings, with more than 100 additional materials found during the FBI raid at his private resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
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