Three classified documents were found in a desk drawer in Donald Trump’s office at Mar-a-Lago, the Department of Justice revealed in a blockbuster filing, in addition to more than 100 documents discovered in 13 boxes with classification markings in the former president’s residence.
The documents were discovered in the August raid of Trump’s Florida home, which came after the former president’s lawyers claimed a ‘diligent search’ produced all the requested documents.
‘Three classified documents that were not located in boxes, but rather were located in the desks in the ’45 Office,’ were also seized,’ the filing states Daly Mail reported.
This comes in response to President Trump’s suit demanding a special master be appointed to review documents taken in the FBI raid on his Palm Beach, Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, on August 8.
Included in the response was a staged photo of ‘classified’ documents laid out on a carpet next to a storage box with a framed Time Magazine cover.
The documents are spread out on the carpet all facing the same way to the camera. Several documents have been whited out, while others have classified markings including Secret//SCI, HCS and Top Secret//SCI. The HCS marking stands for ‘HUMINT Control System’, indicating human-sourced intelligence.
Photo below:
Internet sleuths have observed that several dates on redacted documents are left exposed in the photo.
Any idea what these dates might be? pic.twitter.com/RIkfDUx6OM
— Ben 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 (@ReverendRambo) August 31, 2022
Politico’s Kyle Cheney discerns these dates: “-May 9, 201(8?) -Aug. 26, 2018 -Aug. 2(8?), 2018”
I'm sure lots of amateur sleuths ar eporing over the picture of the classified docs at the moment. The only details of note beyond the language of the cover sheets is three dates that are just barely discernible on the documents:
-May 9, 201(8?)
-Aug. 26, 2018
-Aug. 2(8?), 2018— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 31, 2022
One of Trump’s lawyers present at Mar-a-Lago on that date but ‘explicitly prohibited government personnel from opening or looking inside any of the boxes that remained in the storage room, giving no opportunity for the government to confirm that no documents with classification markings remained,’ the filing said.
And a Trump attorney, who the New York Times identified as Christina Bobb, said claimed all the documents requested via the subpoena had been returned to the government following a ‘diligent search.’
‘Based upon the information that has been provided to me, I am authorized to certify, on behalf of the Office of Donald J. Trump, the following: a. A diligent search was conducted of the boxes that were moved from the White House to Florida; b. This search was conducted after receipt of the subpoena, in order to locate any and all documents that are responsive to the subpoena; c. Any and all responsive documents accompany this certification; and d. No copy, written notation, or reproduction of any kind was retained as to any responsive document. I swear or affirm that the above statements,’ the letter, which was included in the filing, states.
The filing also noted that ‘the F.B.I., in a matter of hours, recovered twice as many documents with classification markings as the ‘diligent search’ that the former president’s counsel and other representatives had weeks to perform.’
Letter from Trump attorney included in the Justice Department filing:
