Person Who Reportedly Tipped Off FBI To Mar-A-Lago Documents Was Likely ‘Very Close’ To Trump, Former Chief Of Staff Suggests

Topline

A close associate of former President Donald Trump may have tipped the FBI off to the documents at Mar-A-Lago that sparked the agency’s raid on Monday, Trump’s former chief of staff suggested to CNN Thursday, following reports that the FBI was informed the ex-president may not have turned over all the classified documents he had stored at Mar-A-Lago.

Former President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower on August 10 in New York City.

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Key Facts

The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek reported Thursday that the FBI’s raid on Mar-A-Lago came after a confidential source told investigators “there may be still more classified documents at the private club.”

The raid took place because of White House documents that Trump brought back to Mar-A-Lago with him instead of turning over to the National Archives, Trump’s attorney Christina Bobb and son Eric Trump have confirmed, and 15 boxes of documents—that included classified information—were previously transported back to the Archives.

Asked about the Journal report Thursday on CNN, former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney suggested whoever tipped off the FBI must have been “really close” to Trump, noting, “I didn’t even know there was a safe at Mar-a-Lago and I was the chief of staff for 15 months.”

Mulvaney speculated there “probably … would be six or eight people who had that kind of information” about there being additional documents and where they would have been located, though he didn’t know who that could include.

FBI agents took approximately 12 more boxes from Mar-A-Lago during Monday’s raid, according to Bobb, which the Journal reports are being stored at the FBI’s office in Miami.

The reports of a Trump associate tipping off the FBI come as Axios and Rolling Stone have reported paranoia among Trump and his allies about whether someone has “flipped” by informing the FBI about the documents.

Key Background

The FBI raided Mar-A-Lago on Monday following months of controversy over Trump bringing back documents to his Florida estate. Under the Presidential Records Act, White House documents are required to be preserved and turned over to the National Archives and should not be kept in the ex-president’s possession when they leave office. The National Archives said in February it had “arranged for the transport of” 15 boxes of documents from Mar-A-Lago, which multiple outlets report Trump only turned over when threatened with legal action, and reports emerged in April that the FBI was looking into the matter at the Archives’ request. The FBI then reportedly met with Trump’s associates at Mar-A-Lago in June to gather more information on the documents and where they had been stored. After that meeting, the Journal reports agents asked for the room where the documents had been stored to be secured and for any items that were transported from the White House to Mar-A-Lago to be preserved. According to the Journal and the Washington Post, investigators were skeptical about whether Trump’s associates were being “truthful” when asked if there were more documents that hadn’t been turned over.

What To Watch For

Whether Trump will face any consequences. There’s no actual enforcement mechanism for violations of the Presidential Records Act, but a federal statute that prohibits removing or destroying government property carries a punishment of a fine and up to three years in prison. Legal experts noted to Reuters there are also other laws that prohibit taking classified documents to “unauthorized locations” or the “unauthorized possession of national defense information” that could be used against Trump, and the documents could also lead investigators to go after Trump for alleged conspiracy or other tangential crimes.

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