He is suspected of having “carried away and stored classified documents” in a way “inappropriate”. Former US President Donald Trump is in the crosshairs of justice for keeping official documents – described as “top secret” by FBI agents — at his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. Without necessarily contesting the facts, Donald Trump sharply criticized these investigations, before starting a legal response. Franceinfo summarizes the key moments of this ongoing investigation for almost six months.
In February, a first report
In a document made public on Friday, August 26 (in English), the US Department of Justice (DOJ) set out the main reasons for the investigation against Donald Trump. We learn that it began after a report, dated February 9, from the national archives agency (Nara), responsible for recording presidential activities for history. In question: the delivery on January 18, two days before the end of his presidential mandate, of fifteen boxes of documents coming directly from his home in Florida. In these filing cabinets, documents classified as sensitive, “mixed with other archives”assures the DOJ.
The alert was considered serious enough to trigger a “criminal investigation” from the FBI, who confirmed that these belatedly returned boxes contained 184 classified documents, 25 of which were marked “top secret”. The investigators then set out to determine, among other things, “how these documents marked with an official seal were removed from the White House”.
In June, a failed attempt to recover documents
The Nara and the American Department of Justice have, in parallel, tried everything to get their hands on the presidential archives, which have been requested for a long time. On June 3, a senior official specializing in counterintelligence even visited the Mar-a-Lago residence, accompanied by Donald Trump’s lawyers. He was then given a simple “handle” of documents, as reported by the New York Times (in English). At the end of June, the exploitation of video surveillance images of the residence nevertheless brought to light movements of boxes and transfers of archives between boxes, carried out in the weeks preceding this visit. What push the investigators to suspect that “other documents containing top secret national defense information” were still at the ex-president.
In August, a search under tension
On the morning of August 8, the FBI raided the famous residence of Donald Trump, who reacted quickly. “Our nation is living through dark days. My beautiful home in Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, (…) is besieged and has been raided and occupied by numerous FBI agents”, said the former president, who was not present during the operation. A message which had the effect of rounding up dozens of supporters of Donald Trump in front of the villa being searched.
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During the operation, officers searched 58 bedrooms and 33 bathrooms, according to the search warrant. After several hours of searches in Donald Trump’s basement and bedroom, FBI agents gathered 26 boxes of archives – including around 100 classified documents and a set of items classified as “top secret”. In order not to hinder the investigations, the Ministry of Justice remained very evasive about the content of the documents found in the luxurious villa of Donald Trump. Handwritten notes, photo binders, but also “information” on “the President of France”Emmanuel Macron, appear in particular in the inventory drawn up by the FBI, the content of which has been widely censored.
Trump hits back and calls it a ‘witch hunt’
The former US president has repeatedly criticized the investigation aimed at him. On Truth Social, the network he himself created after his banishment from Twitter, Donald Trump lamented a “witch hunt”and a “com subterfuge”adding that these legal documents did not mention “nothing” potential documents relating to the “nuclear”which the American press had first mentioned. “We live in a country without faith or law”he had been indignant shortly before.
Faced with the discoveries of the investigators, the billionaire did not deny having kept these documents, but assured that all were “declassified” and that the search was disproportionate. FBI investigators “could have had them whenever they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago”, did he declare in a statement posted on its site on August 12 – and since deleted. The former president is nevertheless suspected of several crimes withholding national defense information, concealing official records, and obstructing a federal investigation.
The investigation has already given rise to a legal tussle
The political impact of this search, the first at the home of a former American president, is such that the Minister of Justice, Merrick Garland, had to give a very rare press conference and ensured that he had “personally approved” the operation.
While the FBI investigations are still ongoing, Donald Trump intends to weigh all his weight in this case which could harm his future in politics. Two weeks after the search of his residence, the former president officially demanded the appointment of an independent expert to oversee the processing of the documents found at his home, while asking for a pause in the federal investigation. This request has so far not been successful, as it was deemed too vague by the judge in charge of this case.
The rest of this case depends on the investigation of course, but also on the content of the sensitive documents found in the residence of the billionaire. As the BBC recalls (in English)the document mentioning the details of the search was only published after a legal action by American media and entire pages are always crossed out with a black line. No charges have yet been leveled against Donald Trump, who is, however, the target of other investigations regarding the manipulation of the results of the 2020 presidential election as well as his role in the invasion of the Capitol. by his supporters on January 6, 2021.