Trump Moved and Hid Classified Records at Mar-a-Lago, DOJ Filing Claims

The Justice Department pursued a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago because investigators suspected that former president Trump and his associates relocated and hid highly classified records, despite claiming that they returned such privileged information to the government, a Tuesday court filing from the department reveals.

The filing came amid Trump’s petition for a special master to conduct an independent review of materials seized from his residence, a motion which a judge said that she has “preliminary intent” to grant but which the DOJ opposes, citing potential injury to national security interests.

Taking inventory of the confiscated materials, the filing said that over 100 documents in 13 boxes or containers with classification markings were taken from the property. Three classified documents were seized from the desks in Trump’s office, it noted. A federal judge’s list of seized property included roughly 20 boxes of items, binders of photos, a handwritten note, the executive grant of clemency for Roger Stone, as well as information about French president Emmanuel Macron.

After the raid of his Florida home, Trump insisted he had been “cooperating fully” with authorities for months to return missing presidential records, making the surprise search unwarranted.