Justice Department Has New Evidence In Trump Classified Documents Probe: Report
The Justice Department has gathered new evidence in its investigation into former President Donald Trump’s removal of classified documents from the White House that may point to possible obstruction, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
Sources familiar with the matter told the newspaper investigators are homing in on whether Trump attempted to impede the government’s efforts to recover sensitive documents from his Mar-a-Lago compound in Florida, or if he directed anyone to do so on his behalf.
The Post reported federal investigators have gathered evidence that Trump might have sifted through boxes of documents after he received a subpoena to return them, possibly to keep some of the files despite the order.
As part of the probe, the government has also obtained the emails and text messages of Molly Michael, a former assistant who worked for Trump in the White House and at Mar-a-Lago during the documents episode.
Any case would hinge on investigators proving Trump intended to impede or obstruct the subpoena, which could prove difficult. The Post added the government has evidence the former president asked his lawyers for advice on how to keep the records he had in his possession, which could demonstrate his intent to do so.
A Trump spokesman told the publication the ongoing investigation has “no basis in facts or law.”
Trump "personally examined" boxes of docs out of a "desire to keep certain things in his possession," report says
Special counsel Jack Smith's team has amassed new evidence of potential obstruction by former President Donald Trump in the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation, according to The Washington Post.
Justice Department and FBI investigators obtained "particularly helpful" emails and texts from Molly Michael, a former Trump White House aide who followed him to Mar-a-Lago before leaving the job last year, according to the report.
The messages "provided investigators with a detailed understanding of the day-to-day activity at Mar-a-Lago at critical moments," according to the Post, and have used the messages to help understand Trump's actions last year.
Investigators are particularly interested in whether Trump may have obstructed government efforts to collect and return all sensitive materials that he took home to Mar-a-Lago, according to the report. Investigators have spent much of their time looking at what happened after Trump's advisers received a subpoena in May demanding the return of all classified documents.
Investigators have found evidence that Trump "looked through the contents of some of the boxes of documents in his home, apparently out of a desire to keep certain things in his possession," sources familiar with the investigation told the Post.
The team now suspects that Trump "personally examined" at least some of the boxes moved from a Mar-a-Lago storage area after the subpoena was served, based on witness statements, security footage and documentary evidence, the sources said. Though Trump's team handed over some documents, the FBI later discovered.
https://www.salon.com/2023/04/03/feels-obstruction-y-experts-say-it-may-be-game-over-after-aide-gives-doj-key-evidence/