The FBI ‘amazingly’ missed the ‘HIDDEN ROOM’ next to Trump’s bedroom when they searched Mar-a-Lago. Special Prosecutor Jack Smith is trying to determine if there were classified documents inside
The FBI missed a ‘hidden room’ when they raided Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022. Officials fear it may have contained classified documents.
Special counsel Jack Smith’s team recently questioned several witnesses about a closet and “hidden room” connected to Trump’s bedroom as part of their investigation into the former president’s handling of classified materials, ABC News reported.
When officers searched Trump’s bedroom during the raid, they apparently missed a small door in one of the walls that was hidden behind a large dresser and a large TV. That ‘hidden room’ was sometimes entered by maintenance personnel who checked the cables running through it.
And now some officials believe that a closet at the home, which was locked on the day of the search, should have been opened and checked.
Documents at Mar-a-Lago were moved from the building’s business center to a bathroom and shower in the Lake Room, according to the federal indictment against Donald Trump
It is believed that Smith’s team is trying to determine if any classified documents remain at Mar-a-Lago. The FBI seized dozens of boxes and more than a hundred documents marked as classified during the August 2022 search.
Agents found no classified material in Trump’s bedroom during their search, but are apparently reevaluating the case.
The former president was indicted in June for possessing material that predated his presidency. Under the Presidential Records Act, all documents of a president are the property of the federal government and belong to the National Archives.
Trump has denied all allegations.
He faces seven federal charges — including conspiracy, violation of the Espionage Act and retention of classified documents — related to the documents he took with him after leaving the White House, all of which carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years bring over. He was also charged separately for each of the 32 documents under the Espionage Act, for a total of 37 federal charges.
He also faces federal charges related to his actions during the January 6 insurrection, charges in New York related to his business dealings and his attempt to bribe porn star Stormy Daniels, and charges in Georgia related to attempts to to overturn the 2020 election results there.
It’s unclear whether Trump ever kept classified documents in the closet or “hidden room” at Mar-a-Lago, or whether Smith’s team is considering a new warrant to search the estate.
Following the FBI search, federal prosecutors pressured Trump’s legal team to ensure that no classified documents remained in Trump’s properties, but it is unclear whether those prosecutors or Trump lawyers were even aware of the ‘hidden room’ or the locked cupboard.
FBI agents raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach in August 2022
Special counsel Jack Smith (left) investigates whether former President Donald Trump conspired to hide classified documents from the FBI
A trove of classified documents was found during an FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate
Trump reportedly had the lock on the cupboard replaced.
For years, the lock to the cabinet was controlled by the Secret Service, but on June 2, 2022, Trump had it replaced and wanted the key, sources told ABC News.
When FBI men reached the locked closet at the front of Trump’s home, they couldn’t find a key for it and were told that the space behind the door — an old stairwell turned into a closet with shelves — wasn’t going anywhere went, so they decided not to. break it open, sources told the news network.
According to the indictment, after Trump received a federal subpoena in June 2022 demanding the return of all classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, his lawyer was told to look in the basement.
While doing so, Trump allegedly ordered the lock on the cabinet to be replaced. It is unclear whether FBI agents who searched the home knew the lock had recently been replaced.
The former president’s alleged efforts to hide classified documents from the FBI are a key part of Smith’s indictment against Trump in Florida.
The indictment also outlines the role of Walter Nauta, Trump’s former military aide who left the White House after his presidency to join him at Mar-a-Lago.
The indictment shows that Trump searched through several boxes of documents before returning them to the National Archives — and he did this with Nauta’s help.
Between November 2021 and January 2022, Nauta and another associate brought boxes of documents to Trump’s social club home and sent the former president a photo to confirm they were there, the indictment showed.
Nauta told the employee that Trump was “working” on the boxes. There were reports that the former president reviewed the material before sending it to the National Archives.
Walter Nauta serves as the former president’s aide and golf partner and has remained by his side since leaving office, while others have left
This image, included in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of documents in a storage room at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, that had fallen over and their contents spilled onto the floor
The indictment includes several text messages between Nauta and another employee about moving several boxes to Trump’s residence.
On January 17, 2022, Nauta returned 15 boxes to the archive.
The indictment accuses Nauta of making false statements to investigators in which he denied moving the boxes.
It says Trump ordered Nauta to move boxes of documents “to hide them from Trump’s attorney, the FBI and the grand jury,” and that Trump’s attorney “falsely suggested to the FBI” that Trump was not had documents that he had to comply with. the summons.