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A detailed inventory of the items recovered in the Mar-a-Lago raid shows that Trump kept classified documents mixed in with personal items like clothes and magazines

Sep 3, 2022, 19:44 IST
Business Insider
Former President Donald Trump holds up papers during a press conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room on April 20, 2020.Alex Brandon/AP
  • Former President Donald Trump interspersed classified documents among his personal items, according to court records.
  • The FBI recovered magazine and newspaper clippings, along with books, clothes, and gifts in the Mar-a-Lago raid.
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Former President Donald Trump kept personal items and classified government documents mixed in together at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, according to unsealed court records.

A detailed inventory of the items from the probe showed that the FBI recovered "99 magazines/newspapers/press articles" in a single box, in addition to documents marked top secret or confidential.

Other boxes recovered were found to contain US government photographs along with books and unspecified articles of clothing or gifts.

The FBI also recovered dozens of empty folders that either had a "classified" label imprinted on them or instructions to return the contents to a military aide or staff secretary.

Last month, the FBI probed into the former president's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida and recovered several boxes containing classified records that Trump took with him from the White House once he left office, according to the court records made public. Some of the boxes were distinctly marked as "top secret," Insider's Sonam Sheth reported.

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Under the Presidential Records Act, he should have turned the records over to the agency upon leaving office.

The Justice Department is now investigating whether Trump violated any laws pertaining to the handling of government documents. A legal analyst has previously said he could receive a 10-year prison sentence if he's convicted of violating the Espionage Act, a law that dates back to World War I that essentially bars anyone from sharing or disseminating information that could potentially harm or disadvantage the US.

The Justice Department is also investigating the way in which Trump stored all these materials in his Mar-a-Lago home.

"All evidence pertaining to the seized items – including, but not limited to, the nature and manner in which they were stored, as well as any evidence with respect to particular documents or items of interest – will inform the government's investigation," prosecutors wrote in an unsealed status report.

"The seized materials will continue to be used to further the government's investigation, and the investigation will continue to use and evaluate the seized materials as it takes further investigative steps, such as through additional witness interviews and grand jury practice," the Justice Department said.

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Trump has so far denied all assertions of wrongdoing, saying that he had "declassified" the documents. He also said that "everyone ends up having to bring home their work from time to time."

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