FBI investigation into Donald Trump's handling of government documents
[7][8][9] His behavior led to mistrust in intelligence and law enforcement agencies who were also alarmed by Trump's mixing with guests during his frequent trips to Mar-a-Lago, viewing the practice as "ripe to be exploited by a foreign spy service eager for access to the epicenter of American power".
[12] In 2021, Trump reportedly told close associates that he regarded some presidential documents, such as the correspondence with Kim, to be his personal property.
"[21] The day before he left office, Trump designated seven senior Trump administration officials, including Meadows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, and Deputy White House Counsel Patrick F. Philbin, "as his representatives to handle all future requests for presidential records" for compliance with the Presidential Records Act.
[24][25] Two years later, Trump admitted to taking classified documents from the White House during a televised response to a CNN reporter's questions.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows informed the National Archives during this period that he would take care of the documents.
In the email, Stern named Pat Cipollone as a witness to the documents, identifying two dozen boxes that were in the White House but had not been transferred to the National Archives.
Trump displayed these letters to people in his office, leading to Meadows contacting Philbin in an effort to figure out how to facilitate the return of these documents.
[31] Following the discovery, the National Archives notified the Justice Department and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform began an investigation into the documents.
The Justice Department instructed the National Archives not to share any more details about the documents to the committee, implying that the FBI was beginning a separate investigation.
[35][36][37] In May 2022, the Justice Department subpoenaed the National Archives in an attempt to obtain the documents, and had interviewed several White House officials who were present in the days leading up to Trump's departure from the White House, seemingly confirming that the Justice Department was beginning a grand jury investigation into the documents.
[40] On June 3, the Justice Department sent counterintelligence chief Jay I. Bratt and three FBI agents to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve the documents requested in the subpoena and meet with Trump's legal team.
[41] On June 8, Bratt emailed Trump's lawyers, telling them to put a stronger lock on the basement and to keep all documents "preserved in that room in their current condition until further notice".
[24] On June 22, the Justice Department subpoenaed Mar-a-Lago surveillance footage, which reportedly showed people putting boxes into other containers and moving them out of the basement storage room.
[3] The FBI suspected violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice due to information from "a significant number of civilian witnesses", as stated in an affidavit.
[3] Across three interactions with Trump in 2022, including the August search of Mar-a-Lago, the government recovered approximately 13,000 documents[48] totaling 21,792 pages.
[64] Dearie asked Trump's team to certify (or formally dispute) the inventory and to state in court filings whether they believed the FBI had lied about what they seized.
[76] In the same decision, Cannon also extended Dearie's overall deadline to December 16, citing issues in finding a vendor to scan the 11,000 documents he was required to review.
[79] Even after the Mar-a-Lago search, the Justice Department stated in court filings that it was still determining whether more government documents remained missing.
[85] Two documents with classified markings were found in a storage unit in West Palm Beach, Florida and were given to the FBI[86][85] along with a laptop onto which they had been digitized.
[91][92][93] Federal investigators reportedly suspect Trump had been playing a "shell game with classified documents", according to one of CNN's sources.
[97] On November 18, Attorney General Merrick Garland named Jack Smith as independent special counsel to lead the investigation of the classified material case, and to review Trump's role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, with specific focus on any potential obstruction to the transfer of presidential power that may have occurred following the 2020 U.S.
[98][99] In December, Smith and his team of 20 prosecutors filed subpoenas targeting Trump allies who worked at the local and state government levels during the 2020 elections in Georgia, New Mexico, Nevada, Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
On June 13, 2023, Trump was arrested, booked, and processed after surrendering himself into federal custody prior to his arraignment in the U.S. District Court of South Florida.
[104] As part of the conditions for his release, Trump avoided paying bond, but was barred from discussing the case with witnesses and with Walt Nauta, his aide and co-defendant in the matter.
[105][106][107] On July 15, 2024, Judge Aileen Cannon annulled the entire procedure on the grounds that the appointment of special prosecutor Jack Smith was illegal.
