(Washington) Donald Trump described Wednesday as “unjustified” the search by the American justice system for classified documents kept at his home and at the origin of a search at the beginning of August at the home of the former president.
Posted at 10:44 p.m.
The search, which has sparked a political storm, is described by Mr. Trump’s lawyers as “unprecedented, unnecessary and without legal basis” as part of a “wrongful search to criminalize possession in place”. sure, by a former president, of presidential and personal archives. »
For his lawyers, the investigators should not have been surprised to discover classified documents within archives from the White House, they explain in a court document published on Wednesday.
“The alleged justification for the opening of this criminal investigation is the supposed discovery of sensitive information within the fifteen boxes” of documents from the presidency kept in the residence of the former president in Florida and recovered in January by the archives national, writes the defense of the Republican billionaire.
US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PHOTO BY REUTERS
Federal investigators believe top-secret documents seized from the Mar-a-Lago, Florida residence were “likely withheld” to hinder the federal police investigation into him.
“But this “discovery” should have been anticipated in view of the very nature of the presidential archives. In other words, the idea that presidential archives contain sensitive information should never have been a source of concern,” the lawyers further note.
Donald Trump thus defends his request to have an independent expert examine the documents seized from his home by the federal police (FBI) on August 8. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
The defense of the former president responds, with this document, to a pleading published overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday by the US Department of Justice, which explains in the most detailed manner to date the reasons for the search. .
Federal investigators believe top-secret documents seized from the Mar-a-Lago, Florida residence were “likely withheld” to hinder the federal police investigation into him.
In particular, they reveal a striking photo that shows documents seized by the federal police, stamped with the words “Top Secret”, strewn on a carpet with a floral pattern.
The publication of this photo by the federal justice was done in a “gratuitous” way and in order to produce “a dramatic effect”, attack Mr. Trump’s lawyers.