Court records reveal new details of alleged obstruction in Trump's classified documents case

Former President Donald Trump still had classified documents in his bedroom at Mar-a-Lago four months after an FBI search of his Florida estate, according to a court decision in the case released Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell's decision also provided additional details of alleged obstruction efforts by Trump and his co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, through what the government called a "shell game" of moving documents around Mar-a-Lago to avoid being found by federal authorities. Howell ruled prosecutors could interview Trump's lawyer, Evan Corcoran, because the former president was "likely" involved in criminal activity.

Another court filing revealed that FBI agents approved the use of lethal force – if necessary – during the search. The FBI says that is just routine, but in a social media post Tuesday Trump decried the potential use of force as a serious threat to democracy.

The same day the latest court records were released, Trump asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to dismiss the case by calling the search unlawful.

Cannon scheduled two hearings Wednesday on Nauta’s requests to dismiss the case. Nauta is Trump’s personal valet and is charged with conspiring to hide the classified documents from federal authorities.

The case is one of four criminal trials pending against Trump. The jury in his New York hush money trial is set to hear final arguments Tuesday. But Cannon has indefinitely postponed the start of the classified documents trial because of the complexity of disputes that still must be resolved.

Here is what we know about the case:

Judge ruled prosecutors could interview Trump lawyer because of possible crime

Trump faces 40 charges including retaining national defense documents and conspiring to hide them from federal authorities, after FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 and found more than 100 documents with classified markings. Trump and co-defendants Nauta and De Oliveira, the property manager at Mar-a-Lago, have each pleaded not guilty.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who presided over disputes about the search, ruled in March 2023 that Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith could interview Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran about the documents despite claims of attorney-client privilege because of potential criminal activity.

Howell’s ruling remained sealed for more than a year. But Trump used it as part of his filing on Tuesday urging Cannon to dismiss the case by arguing the search was unconstitutional. Cannon hasn’t ruled on the motion yet.

More classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago 4 months after FBI search

A revelation in Howell’s decision unsealed Tuesday was that one of Trump’s lawyers told federal authorities in December 2022 – four months after the FBI search – that four more classified records totaling six pages were found in a closet at Mar-a-Lago. When the documents were turned over to the FBI in January 2023, the box included two more documents – an empty folder and a mostly empty folder, both marked “Classified Evening Summary” – that were found in Trump’s bedroom, according to ruling.

Howell noted that the documents should have been turned over months earlier under the subpoena.

“Remarkably, the report regarding the Mar-a-Lago search, conducted on December 15-16, 2023, uncovered four more responsive records,” Howell wrote. “To be clear, the four documents were responsive to the May 2022 subpoena."

Trump accused of sharing classified documents with his PAC

A footnote in Howell’s decision reported that a witness scanned the classified documents onto her laptop owned by the Save America Political Action Committee, a group Trump formed in 2020, before they were turned over in January 2023.

“The former president’s counsel saved those scans onto a thumb drive and provided the thumb drive to the government that day,” Howell wrote.

Sharing classified information with someone who doesn't have a security clearance is a felony. Howell's decision doesn't make clear what the documents were about or why Trump's political staff would have been interested them.

A Trump campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, said in a statement Smith's case is "a feeble attempt to fool the American People."

“The entire documents case was a political sham from the very beginning and it should be thrown out entirely," Cheung said.

Special counsel suspected additional efforts to obstruct investigation

Trump, Nauta and Oliveira allegedly conspired to obstruct justice by hiding the records, having his lawyer tell the FBI Trump didn't have the records and attempting to destroy camera footage revealing how the documents were handled.

The Howell decision unsealed Tuesday revealed that Smith suspected Nauta flew from Bedminster, New Jersey, to West Palm Beach, Florida, after Corcoran told Trump on June 24, 2022, about the subpoena for video footage from Mar-a-Lago.

"The government urged that this scramble to Mar-a-Lago in the wake of the June 24, 2022 phone call reflects the former president's realization that the removal of the boxes from the storage room before [redacted] search was captured on camera − and his attempts to ensure that any subsequent movement of the boxes back to the storage room could occur off camera," Howell wrote.

Nauta was recorded on video entering the storage room where the bulk of the documents were eventually found. But no video was found to explain how boxes of documents were returned to the room between the Trump’s lawyer’s certification in June 2022 that all classified documents had been returned to the government and the August 2022 search that found more.

Howell noted " the curious absence of any video footage showing the return of the remaining boxes to the storage room, which necessarily occurred at some point between June 3, 2022 ... and the execution of the search warrant on August 8, 2022 – when agents counted 73 boxes."

Nauta is charged with moving the boxes to hide them. He was recorded carrying the boxes despite denying in an FBI interview knowing where the boxes were stored or how they got there, according to Howell's ruling. Nauta "engaged in patent dissembling," Howell wrote.

Howell wrote that Trump was accused in grand jury testimony of playing a "shell game," in the government's phrase, in which "documents could be moved between locations based on scheduled dates for searches of those locations, to avoid detection of those responsive records." The government also alleges Nauta and de Oliveira attempted to delete surveillance camera footage.

Nauta's lawyers declined comment.

Neither Trump nor prosecutors explained the late discovery of boxes

Trump’s lawyers certified in June 2022 that he had returned all classified records – two months before the FBI search recovered dozens more. But Howell ruled the records found in December 2022 – four months after the search – weren’t proof that Trump intentionally withheld the records.

Trump hadn’t provided any explanation for how the records were there, either.

“The government has not provided direct evidence that the former president deliberately retained, or was even aware of, the particular classified-marked documents located by his counsel at Mar-a-Lago in December 2022,” Howell wrote. “Notably, no excuse is provided as to how the former president could miss the classified-marked documents found in his own bedroom at Mar-a-Lago.”

Trump complains about potential use of deadly force during search

Trump’s filing to dismiss the case revealed that the FBI order to conduct the search included a policy statement about the “use of deadly force.”

“Law enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force when necessary,” the statement said. Agents planned to bring standard weapons, ammo, handcuffs and bolt cutters, the statement said.

Trump complained about the authorization of deadly force in an all-caps post on social media Tuesday and said President Joe Biden “is a serious threat to democracy.”

Prosecutors said the case had been investigated in compliance with constitutional requirements, laws and regulations.

“There has been no prosecutorial misconduct, and his motion should be denied," prosecutors wrote.

Trump co-defendant Nauta urges dismissal of charges

For the hearings Wednesday, Nauta has asked Cannon to dismiss the charges because of allegedly vindictive prosecution and insufficient accusations.

Prosecutors responded that "Nauta’s arguments are without merit and should be denied."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump kept classified documents at Mar-a-lago months after FBI search