After Donald Trump’s indictment and the allegations that he still had classified documents in his home (something he strongly denied), an FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago bedroom uncovered more classified documents that had been missed during the first search.
This was to the surprise of the judge and court, who said that they couldn’t believe that Trump could have possibly been completely unaware that he had classified documents in his own bedroom.
Donald Trump Requested for the Case to Be Thrown Out
In March 2024, Trump requested that a U.S. district judge dismiss the case regarding the classified documents that had been found in his Mar-a-Lago home.
However, the judge turned down this request. The Presidential Records Act had been brought up, but the judge made a comment on the challenge of how this act could lead to a dismissal of his indictment.
Donald Trump Moved Classified Documents
Back in March 2024, Trump’s former valet revealed that he had helped him move classified documents by helping him load boxes onto an aircraft.
Between 10 and 15 boxes were moved onto the aircraft, which happened at a time when Trump and his legal team were under scrutiny regarding his potential possession of classified documents.
Classified Documents Were All Over Donald Trump’s Home
As well as being found in the bedroom, other classified documents were found in various locations around Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, including a ballroom stage and a bathroom.
Trump was also found to have hidden information from his own attorney, and those who were involved in helping him hide and keep these documents are expected to receive obstruction of justice charges.
Donald Trump’s Movements Were Planned
The judge also found that Trump had planned his movements and therefore knew the classified documents were in the boxes that he was moving.
In a phone call on June 24, 2022, Trump realized that removing the boxes from the storage room had been caught on camera. As a result, he made sure that the boxes being moved back into the storage room weren’t caught on camera.
Donald Trump’s Scramble to Get Home
Federal investigators obtained a court order in June 2022 to access the security camera footage from Trump’s home and investigate what he might have done with the classified documents.
It has been alleged that around this time there was a scramble to get Trump to his Mar-a-Lago home when he had previously been in New Jersey so that he could ensure the boxes were moved off camera.
Donald Trump Told His Lawyer to Lie to Government
In what U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell has described as Trump knowing what he had done as wrong, it was revealed that he had told his lawyer that all of the classified documents had been returned.
However, this is now known to be a lie. Despite previously being found to have hidden classified documents, he still kept hold of some more and, according to Judge Howell, knowingly lied to the government.
Joe Biden Had Hidden Classified Documents
Trump isn’t the only president who has hidden classified documents. It was also discovered that Joe Biden had classified documents hidden in the basement of his house.
While the contents of these documents aren’t entirely known, they have been classed as highly classified and top secret. The search also discovered notebooks that Biden had written in on the various classified issues in the documents.
Donald Trump Could Be on Trial Throughout the Presidential Election
In what is likely to come as a bit of a blow to Trump, he will likely be on trial during the presidential election, as his case is unlikely to go to trial before November.
This means that should he win his bid for his second term as U.S. President, Trump could be on trial during his Presidency, something he is somewhat familiar with as he was being investigated in 2019 and 2021.
Why Donald Trump’s Trial Has Been Pushed Back
Trump’s trial was initially scheduled for May 2024. However, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has now pushed it back indefinitely.
The trial has been pushed back due to issues with evidence, discovery and the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA). These issues still need to be decided on before the trial occurs.
Donald Trump’s Comments on the Trial
Not one to shy away from his thoughts and opinions on certain things, especially when they relate to him, Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social to share his opinion on how the trial is going.
In the post, he called the trial a “witch hunt” and said that Joe Biden’s “crooked DOJ” carried out an “illegal and unconstitutional raid” and that the FBI used “deadly (lethal) force.” He also claimed that Joe Biden is mentally unfit for office, citing the 25th Amendment.
The FBI’s Comments on the Raid
Not one to usually make a statement in response to someone else’s comments, the FBI responded to Trump’s claims that they had acted unlawfully when searching for the classified documents in his Mar-a-Lago home.
The FBI made it known that they had followed standard procedure when conducting the search, that no additional steps had been made in the search, and there was “no departure from the norm.”
