A lawyer for former President Donald Trump reportedly told the Department of Justice that all classified material at Mar-a-Lago had been returned in June.
At least one member of Mr Trump’s legal team signed a written statement earlier this summer stating that all of the materials marked as classified which were stored in boxes at Mr Trump’s private Florida club and home had been handed over to the government, according to four individuals who spoke to The New York Times.
Jay Bratt, a counterintelligence official at the national security division within DOJ, visited the Florida estate on 3 June, after which the written declaration was made.
The declaration suggests that Mr Trump and his attorneys have not been fully sincere in their dealings with federal authorities, The Times noted. The paper added that it could explain why a charge of obstruction was cited by DOJ when seeking the warrant.
Monday’s FBI raid came after months of discussions between the authorities and Mr Trump and his aides.
The FBI removed 11 sets of documents that were marked as classified. Some were marked “classified/TS/SCI” meaning “top secret/sensitive compartmented information”. Such information is only supposed to be viewed in a secure government facility, known as a SCIF – Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility.
The search included a storage area at Mar-a-Lago, as well as Mr Trump’s office and residence. On Friday, Mr Trump claimed to have declassified the documents when he was still president, but he didn’t provide any evidence that he had.
“Just like every Democrat-fabricated witch hunt previously, the water of this unprecedented and unnecessary raid is being carried by a media willing to run with suggestive leaks, anonymous sources and no hard facts,” Trump spokesperson Taylor Budovich said on Saturday, according to The New York Times.
The search warrant said that law enforcement was looking for evidence connected to possible violations of the Espionage Act and a law that prohibits unlawful removal or destruction of government records, as well as allegations of obstruction.
National Archives officials found last year that Mr Trump had taken government documents and other types of materials with him when he left the White House in January 2021. According to the Presidential Records Act, such materials are to be sent to the archives.
In January, Mr Trump returned 15 boxes of material. The Archives found that many were classified, and sent the matter to DOJ, which empanelled a grand jury and started an investigation into the issue.
DOJ issued a subpoena this spring in an effort to locate additional documents thought to be at Mr Trump’s home. He was advised on several occasions by aides to hand over what was left, going against what individuals said was his willingness to retain some materials, according to The Times.
Mr Bratt visited the Florida residence alongside other officials in early June to try to resolve the issue. They met Mr Trump for a short time during that visit, the paper reported.
People with knowledge of the meeting told The Times that Trump lawyers Evan Corcoran and Christina Bobb met with the DOJ officials.
The lawyers showed the officials boxes of materials that Mr Trump had taken from the White House and that was at the time being held in a storage area.
Two individuals told the paper that the officials left the residence with further classified documents and also obtained the written declaration around the same time, with at least one Trump lawyer attesting that all the material had been handed over.
Following the meeting, Mr Bratt told Mr Corcoran in an email to get a better padlock for the storage area, which the Trump team did, The Times reported.
DOJ also sent a subpoena seeking security video files from the club, including footage from outside the storage area. According to The Times, the footage led to concern at DOJ that the materials were not being cared for properly. Officials have spoken to around six Trump aides over recent months concerning the handling of the documents.
When Mr Biden became president, he stopped Mr Trump from receiving classified briefings that former presidents get, citing his “erratic behaviour”.
Mr Trump’s handling of classified information was also a concern among officials during his term in office.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Thursday that he had approved the search at Mar-a-Lago, and he implied that DOJ wouldn’t have done so without attempting less intrusive actions first.
Just ahead of Mr Garland’s statement, an individual in Mr Trump’s inner circle contacted a DOJ official to send a message from Mr Trump to Mr Garland.
The former president wanted the attorney general to be aware that he had been speaking to people around the US and that they were furious about the raid.
“The country is on fire,” Mr Trump is quoted as saying, according to the individual with knowledge of the message, The Times reported. “What can I do to reduce the heat?”
A judge unsealed the search warrant the next day, including an inventory of the items collected by the FBI on Monday.
Mr Trump claimed that no wrongdoing had taken place, and he also baselessly suggested that agents had planted evidence at his residence.
