The former President Donald Trump personally instructed workers in moving boxes of documents, including classified files, at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, an unidentified employee has told the FBI.
According to the staffer’s testimony that was allegedly confirmed with surveillance footage in FBI’s possession, Trump ordered his people to move boxes out of a basement storage room to his residence after his legal team received in May a subpoena from the government that requested any remaining classified documents at the Florida estate.
After initially denying handling such documents, the witness reportedly switched stories and admitted to handling boxes of documents at Trump’s behest in a second interview with FBI agents.
FBI agents executed the search warrant at Mar-a-Lago in August, months after the government subpoenaed Trump in search of the documents believed to remain in his possession after being taken from the White House
They uncovered more than 100 classified documents and dozens of empty folders marked as classified that, according to the witness account, Trump directed to be moved after the government issued its subpoena.
Coupled with the footage, the witness account could serve as key proof that Trump failed or refused to comply with the government’s requests for the documents in the federal criminal investigation focused on a range of potential crimes, including obstruction, destruction of government records, and mishandling of classified information.
As some of the materials included high-level secrets and intel, the discovery of the classified documents at Trump’s residence has heightened national security concerns although he offered up varying defenses, including claims that materials were declassified before he left the office, though his attorneys have not gone so far in their legal arguments.
As the Justice Department battles with Trump in court over the review of the seized materials, a new report from The New York Times suggested last week that the former president may still be in possession of classified documents.
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