Special counsel Jack Smith wants to know whether former President Donald Trump hid more classified national security documents in a locked closet at his Mar-a-Lago estate, according to a new report.
The “hidden room” was apparently not opened by FBI agents who executed a search warrant on Aug. 8, 2022, and seized 102 sensitive intelligence files at Trump’s residence in Palm Beach, Fla., sources told ABC News.
The 45th president, 77, allegedly told resort workers to change the locks on closets while one of his lawyers checked a basement storage room in an effort to comply with a federal subpoena and turn over some documents ahead of the search, the source said. .
The room is reportedly located in Trump’s bedroom behind the wardrobe and TV.
A senior FBI official told the outlet that searches were only conducted in areas that may contain classified government documents “based on information gathered throughout the investigation.”
Special counsel Jack Smith is investigating whether former President Donald Trump hid more classified documents in a locked closet at his Mar-a-Lago estate, according to a new report. AP The former president allegedly told resort employees to change the locks on closets while one of his lawyers checked the basement storage room to comply with a federal subpoena and turn over several documents before the search. AP
“Discussions took place that day regarding additional areas of the property and it was determined that the actions taken met the parameters of a search warrant,” the officer said.
Lines of questioning from prosecutors in Smith’s office have been heavily worked on 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 “Joe Biden-directed Witch Hunt.”
The “hidden room” was apparently not opened by FBI agents who executed a search warrant on Aug. 8, 2022, and seized 102 sensitive intelligence files at Trump’s residence in Palm Beach, Fla., sources told ABC News. AP
“Crooked Joe Biden’s witch hunts, aided by the fake news mainstream media, are nothing more than a desperate attempt at election meddling aimed at trying and disenfranchising voters as President Trump dominates the polls,” Cheung said in a statement.
“This is all vile politics by the enemies of President Trump because they will do everything in their power, including weaponizing the law, to stop the presumptive Republican candidate for President and the next President of the United States.”
Neither Smith’s office nor the FBI immediately responded to requests 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 retention of the documents was “absolutely irresponsible” – but his lawyers failed to disclose his own files at both locations to federal authorities until after the 2022 midterm elections. Image Getty
President Biden is also under federal investigation for hiding sensitive papers in his office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, DC, 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 retention of the documents was “absolutely irresponsible” — but that his lawyers failed to disclose his own files at both locations to 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 documents were found only in private residences.
Smith indicted Trump on 37 counts for allegedly keeping the documents — some of which included national defense information — by hiding them from his lawyers and federal authorities who sought them. AFP via Getty Images
Special counsel Robert Hur is not expected to bring charges against the sitting president, according to reports.
Smith initially indicted Trump on 37 counts for allegedly withholding the documents — some of which included national defense information — by hiding them from his lawyers and federal authorities who sought them.
The allegations follow a protracted battle between Trump and the National Archives over many sensitive files in 2021, with threats of a Justice Department investigation if the documents are not returned in time.
One of Trump’s lawyers later turned over 38 confidential documents to the FBI and the Justice Department on June 3 — but his valet Walt Nauta “at Trump’s direction” moved boxes containing other people out of the storage room and back into the main residence without the lawyer’s knowledge. AP
Federal prosecutors opened their investigation in March 2022, a grand jury was empaneled the following month and Trump was served with a subpoena for the file on May 11, according to the indictment.
One of Trump’s lawyers later turned over 38 confidential documents to the FBI and the Justice Department on June 3 — but prosecutors said valet Walt Nauta “at Trump’s direction” moved boxes containing other files out of a storage room and back into the main residence without the attorney’s knowledge.
Nauta was charged as a co-defendant for conspiring to hide 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 security camera footage of the incident.
A superseding indictment filed in July hit the former president with three more charges.
Trump-appointed US District Judge Aileen Cannon has set a trial date of May 20, 2024, for the case in the Southern District of Florida.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
