Federal prosecutors on Monday released never-before-seen images of government documents recovered from former President Donald Trump’s Florida home, as they pushed back on his lawyers’ efforts to have the case dismissed.
The photos show stacks of labeled boxes, classified documents and other papers kept with newspapers, clothing and presidential memorabilia.
“Trump has personally chosen to keep documents containing some of the country’s best-kept secrets in cardboard boxes, along with a collection of other personally chosen memorabilia of various sizes and shapes from his presidency – newspapers, thank you notes, Christmas decorations, magazines, clothing, etc. and photographs of himself and others,” prosecutors led by Special Prosecutor Jack Smith wrote.
Trump is charged with 40 crimes, including illegally withholding documents and obstructing government efforts to recover them.
He has pleaded not guilty and a court date has not yet been set.
Photos in court papers filed Monday night by federal prosecutors show stacks of boxes in a storage room at Mar-a-Lago as part of the case against former President Donald Trump
In the meantime, the two sides have feuded over the legality of Smith’s appointment and whether the former president should be barred from commenting on the FBI team that searched his headquarters at Mar-a-Lago.
Prosecutors filed a 30-page brief on Monday, including a series of photos taken during the Aug. 8, 2022, search.
Among them is an apparently unsigned letter, on paper with the White House note, to the family of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school massacre.
“Your family’s courage and strength have touched people across our country,” it reads, before thanking them for visiting the White House and promising to better protect schools.
It’s pictured atop some other White House papers and a copy of the Washington Post, which leads with a story about Trump.
Another image shows a box filled with shirts and other clothing, plus a cover page that reads: “Confidential.”
Trump’s lawyers argue that the precise order of items in boxes is crucial to their defense, pinpointing when and where documents were kept.
Prosecutors have admitted that some documents were confused after the seizure.
But they submitted new details and images of how the search was conducted to strengthen their case.
Among the documents was an apparently unsigned letter, on paper with the White House note, to the family of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school massacre.
Another image shows a box full of dress shirts, plus a cover page that says “Confidential.”
One of the photos taken by Trump Valet Walt Nauta in December 2021, showing boxes toppled and contents spilling onto the floor
Trump is charged with 40 crimes, including illegally withholding documents and obstructing government efforts to recover them. He denies the accusations
The filing includes photos taken by Trump employee Walt Nauta, co-defendant, in December 2021.
Prosecutors say he took them when he moved boxes from a storage room to Trump’s quarters for investigation and discovered that some of the boxes had fallen, spilling their contents.
In one of those boxes, they write, was a secret document.
Prosecutors insisted in their filing that Trump had everything he needed to make his argument, regardless of whether anything had changed or not.
‘For example, he suggests (for the first time) that he would like to argue that the classified documents were hidden in the boxes and difficult to see, or that the placement of classified documents with dated items shows that they were placed in the box. long ago and perhaps forgotten,” they write.
“But because the overall contents of each box have not changed, Trump can argue both cases and has everything he needs to do so.
“Nothing was lost, let alone destroyed, and there was no bad faith.”
The images apparently show documents kept with presidential memorabilia
‘Nothing was lost, let alone destroyed, and there was no bad faith,’ prosecutors say
The hearing will continue behind closed doors Tuesday morning before Judge Aileen Cannon.
On Monday, a member of the prosecution team apologized to the judge, who has repeatedly ruled against the government.
It came after David Harbach appeared to respond to questions from the U.S. District Judge in Florida about prosecutors’ claims about threats to law enforcement personnel and Trump’s language about the FBI.
“I don’t like your tone,” she said broke at some point.
Later he said: “I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I didn’t mean to be unprofessional. Sorry about that.’