Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Alex Woodward

Prosecutors release new photos of ‘highly guarded secrets’ in messy boxes at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago

US Department of Justice

Special counsel Jack Smith has defended federal law enforcement’s handling of documents discovered at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property, sharing images in a new court filing that show how the former president stashed “top secret” materials and government “secrets” in a cluttered collection of clothing, Christmas ornaments, newspapers and photographs of himself.

The former president has argued that the charges in his classified documents case should be dropped on grounds that investigators failed to preserve evidence in the order in which they were found.

In photographs attached to a 33-page filing on Monday night, documents marked “secret” and “top secret” or bearing the White House emblem are seen stuffed in cardboard boxes alongside piles of golf shirts, sitting on top of old newspapers, and next to crates of Diet Coke.

One image shows a closet with newspapers and other documents spilling out on the floor from tipped-over boxes.

Smith’s team wrote that Trump “personally chose to keep documents containing some of the nation’s most highly guarded secrets in cardboard boxes along with a collection of other personally chosen keepsakes of various sizes and shapes from his presidency – newspapers, thank you notes, Christmas ornaments, magazines, clothing, and photographs of himself and others.”

After he left the White House in January 2021, Trump took his “cluttered collection of keepsakes” to his Florida home, “where the boxes traveled from one readily accessible location to another — a public ballroom, an office space, a bathroom, and a basement storage room,” according to prosecutors.

Documents were discovered spilled out on the floor of a closet at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago before a law enforcement search in 2022, according to proscutors. (US Department of Justice)

“Against this backdrop of the haphazard manner in which Trump chose to maintain his boxes, he now claims that the precise order of the items within the boxes when they left the White House was critical to his defense, and, what’s more, that FBI agents executing the search warrant in August 2022 should have known that,” they added.

Documents marked ‘confidential’ and ‘secret’ appear inside boxes containing newspapers and other files at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. (US Department of Justice)

Smith has urged District Court Judge Aileen Cannon — a Trump appointee — to reject Trump’s “bad faith” argument that ignores the “unsurprising reality that the order of some of the items may have shifted since then.”

Documents and boxes bearing presidential emblems were discovered at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago next to pictures of Trump and other personal items. (US Department of Justice)

FBI agents who searched the property after Trump allegedly evaded the government’s attempts to collect missing documents “did so professionally, thoroughly, and carefully under challenging circumstances, particularly given the cluttered state of the boxes and the substantial volume of highly classified documents Trump had retained,” prosecutors added.

Golf shirts are stuffed in a box with a paper reading ‘confidential.’ (US Department of Justice)

Trump had previously and spuriously argued that he declassified the documents, or that FBI agents had planted them, or that the boxes were packed up as his “personal records” after leaving the White House.

Documents and materials seized during a search of former Mar-a-Lago home included ‘secret’ filings next to personal items wrapped in tissue paper. (via REUTERS)

His latest “profoundly flawed” defense on “spoliation of evidence” grounds is “yet another attempt to his latest unfounded accusations against law enforcement professionals doing their jobs,” according to prosecutors.

Documents marked ‘top secret’ appear next to boxes with bubble wrap and other knicknacks. (US Department of Justice)

Trump faces 40 separate charges stemming from allegations that he withheld hundreds of documents at his Florida property, then conspired to obstruct the government’s attempts to get them back.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Documents marked ‘secret’ were discovered with newspapers and other pieces of paper at Mar-a-Lago. (via REUTERS)

In a series of courtroom hearings over three days, Judge Cannon heard Trump’s attorneys argue that Smith’s office was unconstitutionally created and funded.

The special counsel’s team also has asked the judge to impose a narrowly tailored gag order to prevent the former president from making statements that endanger FBI agents.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.