Golf shirts and photographs of the Canadian singer Celine Dion were among the items taken by FBI agents from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate earlier this year.
The revelation that Mr Trump was storing photos of Ms Dion at his home came as a federal appeals court on Thursday rejected an attempt by the former president to stop the FBI investigation of his handling of classified documents taken to Mar-a-Lago after he left the presidency last year.
“Plaintiff’s counsel noted that the seized items included ‘golf shirts’ and ‘pictures of Celine Dion,’” the judges wrote. “While Plaintiff may have an interest in these items and others like them, we do not see the need for their immediate return after seizure under a presumptively lawful search warrant.”
Mr Trump is facing a criminal probe into his handling of the classified material, which reportedly included ultra-sensative national security information. He may also ultimately face charges of theft of government records and obstruction of justice.
He also, at least temporarily, seems to have lost part of his golf wardrobe and Celine Dion photograph collection. Mr Trump’s fandom of Ms Dion has been tested before; the Canadian refused to perform at Mr Trump’s presidential inaguration in 2017.
Mr Trump famously had difficulties finding star musicians willing to play at his inaguration, then argued for months about how many people had actually attended it. Pictures showed far fewer people in attendance at Mr Trump’s inaguration than had attended his predecessor Barack Obama’s first presidential inaguration in 2009.
The opinion from the Atlanta-based appeals court is a setback to Mr Trump’s efforts to quash the Justice Department investigation that will now play out in parallel to his third bid for the presidency. Mr Trump launched his 2024 campaign from Mar-a-Lago the week following the midterm elections, which were disappointing for Republicans and specifically for a number of candidates he backed.
