Donald Trump continues facing a difficult time in his many and expanding legal troubles.
Recent reporting has outlined circumstances that could indicate further specific intent to conceal classified documents then in Donald’s possession when federal personnel visited Mar-a-Lago last year in hopes of retrieving a series of such files. (That visit was before the eventual FBI raid of the southern Florida property.) An article from The New York Times, for instance, described an aide to Trump — and a maintenance worker at the property who happened to end up helping — moving boxes in a storage area at the property the day before that visit. (They moved items into there.) That point was also before Trump’s lawyer Evan Corcoran was involved in his own search. Relatedly, federal Judge Beryl Howell already concluded there was sufficient evidence to establish a likelihood that Trump misled his personal legal team.
“If Trump instructed his employees to move documents for the obvious purpose of concealing them from investigators — especially if they practiced doing so — then that would speak directly to Trump’s intent in this matter,” experts recently wrote for MSNBC. “In light of a grand jury subpoena requiring the return of the classified documents, he would appear to have taken brazen steps to thwart the subpoena and interfere with the Justice Department’s investigation. That intent meets the requirements for an obstruction of justice charge under 18 U.S.C. 1519.” (There have also been reports of Trump associates “practicing” moving documents around as Trump’s team functionally evaded the government’s initial demands.)
Those writing that article included former Obama White House lawyer Norm Eisen, longtime attorney Fred Wertheimer, and Joshua Kolb. They also spotlighted the bizarre claim in reports that Trump at times actually showed off some of the classified materials he still held at Mar-a-Lago, potentially further incriminating himself criminally under the federal Espionage Act. Recent reports have suggested announcements of potential charges in the federal probe around these documents could come soon after Memorial Day. Read more right here.
