Topline
Federal agents served a grand jury subpoena and recovered sensitive national security documents from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in June before ultimately raiding the Trump property this week, after learning from at least one person that classified documents may still be at the private club, CNN reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
An aerial view of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate is pictured.
Key Facts
Investigators first issued a grand jury subpoena in the spring, according to the New York Times, and came to Mar-a-Lago in June where they were shown documents kept in a basement room at Mar-a-Lago, CNN and the Times reported.
Trump was present at the start of a June meeting with investigators but did not answer questions, while Trump’s lawyers showed agents documents—some of which were classified—and handed those marked as top secret or higher over to the investigators, according to CNN, which cited anonymous sources familiar with the meeting.
The news follows reports from the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek 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 meeting and grand jury subpoena came after the National Archives sounded alarms about missing documents and made a criminal referral to the Justice Department, which believed the records to be so sensitive investigators were forced to take action, the Times reported Thursday, citing two people familiar with the investigation.
Key Background
According to the former president the FBI “raided” Mar-a-Lago Monday for hours, “broke into” Trump’s safe, and reportedly recovered 12 boxes of documents. Trump has called the attack “political persecution,” and his allies have rallied around him. Under the Presidential Records Act, White House documents must be preserved and handed over to the National Archives once a president leaves office. The Justice Department has been investigating why 15 boxes of Trump administration government documents—which were given over to the National Archives in January—were taken to Mar-a-Lago instead of remaining in federal custody. Federal agents in the spring began interviewing Trump staff at Mar-a-Lago and former White House aides who helped move the documents at the end of his presidency, according to CNN. The Journal first reported Wednesday FBI agents came to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on June 3 to talk about government records held in the basement, after which the agents sent a note requesting the documents be stored with a stronger lock. Federal investigators served a separate subpoena for surveillance footage at Mar-a-Lago to see who had access to the documents after the June meeting, the Times reported earlier this week, citing a person familiar with the matter.
What To Watch For
Exactly what materials were recovered in Monday’s raid, though investigators believe the records have national security implications, according to CNN, while the Times reported the FBI left behind a two-page note of what was taken. The 15 boxes of documents recovered by the National Archives in June reportedly included letters between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un as well as a letter from former President Barack Obama to Trump as Obama left office.
Further Reading
Feds seized documents from Mar-a-Lago in June with grand jury subpoena (CNN)
Subpoena Preceded Search Warrant in Push to Retrieve Material From Trump (New York Times)
FBI Quest for Trump Documents Started With Breezy Chats, Tour of a Crowded Closet (Wall Street Journal)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinehalpert/2022/08/11/fbi-reportedly-issued-subpoena-and-took-national-security-documents-from-mar-a-lago-months-before-raid/