Donald Trump’s staff moved boxes of documents the day before a June 2022 visit by Justice Department officials to Mar-a-Lago, according to a new report, and his staff practiced what to do if the premises were searched.
The allegations, reported by The Washington Post on Thursday, support the idea that Trump’s team deliberately concealed information from those trying to recover the documents.
Jack Smith, the special counsel investigating Trump’s handling of classified information, is investigating Trump’s handling of the documents.
In May 2022, a subpoena was issued for the return of the documents, after months of wrangling with the National Archives and Records Administration.
But even before Trump’s office received the subpoena, he was having what some officials called a “dress rehearsal” for moving government documents.
Sources said the exercise was carried out because Trump would not hand over the documents he considered his property.
Donald Trump was photographed Thursday at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia
Trump’s attorney said Thursday that the document-moving allegations were part of a “witch hunt” designed to derail his presidential campaign.
Some of the documents in Trump’s possession discovered during the August 8, 2022 federal raid on Mar-a-Lago
It was previously known that Trump’s team retrieved some of the files from storage in May 2022 after Trump’s office received a subpoena.
But the precise timing of that activity — the day before the raid — is an important element in the investigation, sources said The Washington Post.
The documents were moved on June 2.
Hours later, on June 2, a Trump attorney contacted the Justice Department and said officials there were welcome to visit Mar-a-Lago and retrieve classified documents related to the subpoena.
The next day, senior Justice Department attorney Jay Bratt arrived at Mar-a-Lago with officers.
The June 3 law enforcement visit was designed to collect material in response to the May 2022 grand jury subpoena demanding the return of all documents with secret markings.
Trump’s lawyers gave the officials a sealed envelope containing 38 classified documents and a signed statement that a “diligent search” had been conducted for the documents requested by the subpoena — and that all pertinent documents had been handed over.
That turned out not to be the case, and on August 8, the highly unusual step was taken to raid Mar-a-Lago to seize the outstanding documents.
They found more than 100 additional classified documents, some in Trump’s office and others in the storage room.
Earlier this year, Trump’s valet, Walt Nauta, testified that he moved boxes in Mar-a-Lago at Trump’s direction after the subpoena was issued. There is video surveillance footage that corroborates his story.
Two people helped Nauta, but did not know the details of their task, according to one of their lawyers.
John Irving, a lawyer representing one of the two employees who moved the boxes, said the employee did not know what was inside and only tried to help Nauta, who used a dolly or hand truck to move some of the boxes.
“He was seen on Mar-a-Lago security video helping Walt Nauta move boxes into a storage unit on June 2, 2022,” Irving said.
“My client saw Mr. Nauta moving the boxes and offered to help.”
The next day, the employee helped Nauta pack an SUV “when former President Trump left for Bedminster for the summer.”
The identities of the two people who helped Nauta are unknown.
Irving told The Washington Post that his client, a longtime Mar-a-Lago employee, has worked with the government and had no reason to believe that helping move boxes meant anything.
Other people familiar with the investigation confirmed the employee’s role to the newspaper, saying he has been questioned several times by authorities.
At least two dozen people — including Mar-a-Lago personnel and those in Trump’s current inner circle — have been subpoenaed in the investigation over classified documents, CNN reported in March.
On April 3 of this year, police are seen outside Mar-a-Lago. In August 2022, the building was raided
Jack Smith has been appointed special counsel to investigate Trump’s handling of classified documents
Trump’s spokesman said on Thursday that the allegations about the moved documents were part of a “witch hunt” against Trump designed to hinder his electoral chances.
“This is nothing more than a targeted, politically motivated witch hunt against President Trump designed to interfere in elections and prevent the American people from sending him back to the White House,” Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesman, said in a statement. declaration.
“Like all other false hoaxes thrown at President Trump, this corrupt attempt will also fail.”
Cheung accused prosecutors of “disregarding common decency or the basic rules of the justice system.”
He claimed that investigators have “harassed anyone and everyone who works [for]has worked [for]or support Donald Trump.”
Cheung added: “During the negotiations for the return of documents, President Trump told the lead DOJ official, ‘If you need anything from us, let us know.’
“The fact that the DOJ rejected this offer of cooperation and raided Mar-a-Lago proves that the Biden regime has armed the DOJ and the FBI.”