Trump attorney claims no classified documents at Mar-a-Lago in signed letter to Justice Department
That inventory list contradicts the attorney’s letter. Deleting that classified information after the letter was sent could explain why prosecutors invoked obstruction laws in their request for a search warrant.
The sources did not specify when the letter was signed or by whom. This is part of an ongoing conversation with the Department of Justice on this issue.
CNN previously reported that after a June meeting at Mar-a-Lago, where Justice officials left top-secret information, investigators developed evidence, including from a witness, led investigators to believe that there was still more classified information in the documents stored at the complex.
Court documents that were unsealed and released Friday identify three federal charges that the DOJ is considering as part of its investigation: violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice, and handling criminal proceedings against government records. The inclusion of charges suggests that the department may have reason to investigate those crimes because it is gathering evidence in the search. No one was charged.
The June meeting included Trump’s attorneys Evan Corcoran, Christina Bobb, and federal investigators, including Jay Bratt, chief of counterintelligence and export control at the Justice Department, CNN previously reported. .
A separate source said Trump’s representatives told investigators during the June meeting that Trump had declassified all the documents.
Trump spokesman, Taylor Budowich, said in a statement to CNN: “Like every other fabricated Democratic witch hunt before, the country of this unprecedented and unnecessary raid is under attack. made by a ready-to-run media with suggestive leaks, anonymous sources and no hard facts.”
The National Archives, responsible for collecting and classifying presidential documents, previously said at least 15 boxes of White House files had been recovered from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort – including some have been classified.