Search Warrant Executed at Mar-a-lago

Newly unsealed grand jury testimony from Trump’s valet helps explain FBI’s desire to search Mar-a-Lago​

Donald Trump’s valet told investigators before the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago in 2022 that he randomly chose boxes of documents to return to the National Archives and Trump himself directed that dozens more boxes located at the resort wouldn’t be returned, according to recently unsealed court filings.

When one grand juror asked Nauta if he would “just pick some off the top,” [as a means of responding to the NARA request] Nauta said “yes,” according to a newly unsealed transcript and unredacted FBI search warrant affidavit.

At one point in the process of choosing boxes for Trump to review before returning them to the Archives, Nauta said that Trump “was like, okay, that’s it.”

Nauta’s account was corroborated by a second witness, whose identity is not publicly known. Both said that Trump gave the direction not to give the National Archives any more boxes.

Nauta’s grand jury testimony could become a notable part of an eventual trial against Trump. Even if Nauta refuses to testify, prosecutors could seek to use his grand jury statements about Trump in their presentation to a jury.

[Nauta initially cooperated with investigators, then changed his lawyer for one provided by Trump-world and clammed up.]

Uh oh, that grand jury testimony looks bad.

Judge Cannon Grants Trump ‘Indefinite Trial Delay’ in Classified Documents Case​

On Monday, Cannon halted the May 9 deadline for Trump and his two co-defendants in the federal case to submit court filings. This pertains to Section 5(a) of the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA), which mandates the disclosure of sensitive materials Trump intends to use at trial.

“This case was set for trial on May 20, which obviously won’t happen,” [former federal prosecutor Joyce] Vance wrote on Twitter/X. “It should have been ready to try by the end of last year. Extending the 5(a) deadlines indefinitely is the same thing as giving Trump an indefinite trial delay.”

Two images of classified documents were found on a phone owned by Donald Trump's valet, federal prosecutors have claimed in court.

Prosecutors will call a phone expert to show that valet Walt Nauta allegedly shared one of the images in a text message. If true, this could help convince a future jury that Trump did not secure classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and that staff had access to them.

essentialsaltes said:

Newly unsealed grand jury testimony from Trump’s valet helps explain FBI’s desire to search Mar-a-Lago​

Donald Trump’s valet told investigators before the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago in 2022 that he randomly chose boxes of documents to return to the National Archives and Trump himself directed that dozens more boxes located at the resort wouldn’t be returned, according to recently unsealed court filings.

When one grand juror asked Nauta if he would “just pick some off the top,” [as a means of responding to the NARA request] Nauta said “yes,” according to a newly unsealed transcript and unredacted FBI search warrant affidavit.

At one point in the process of choosing boxes for Trump to review before returning them to the Archives, Nauta said that Trump “was like, okay, that’s it.”

Nauta’s account was corroborated by a second witness, whose identity is not publicly known. Both said that Trump gave the direction not to give the National Archives any more boxes.

Nauta’s grand jury testimony could become a notable part of an eventual trial against Trump. Even if Nauta refuses to testify, prosecutors could seek to use his grand jury statements about Trump in their presentation to a jury.

[Nauta initially cooperated with investigators, then changed his lawyer for one provided by Trump-world and clammed up.]

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Wow. Surely there is a rational explanation for this.

evoeth said:

Wow. Surely there is a rational explanation for this.

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Here's a simple explanation. But it does not appear to be correct.

essentialsaltes said:

Two images of classified documents were found on a phone owned by Donald Trump's valet, federal prosecutors have claimed in court.

Prosecutors will call a phone expert to show that valet Walt Nauta allegedly shared one of the images in a text message. If true, this could help convince a future jury that Trump did not secure classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and that staff had access to them.

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Ol' Waltine is going to run to plead out the moment it's clear that Trump's offer of pardon has the same value as mine.

Hans Blaster said:

Ol' Waltine is going to run to plead out the moment it's clear that Trump's offer of pardon has the same value as mine.

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Mine had a Gold Star in it!

"The new disclosures indicate the Department of Justice was in touch with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) during much of 2021, undermining the DOJ’s claims that it became involved in the matter only after the Archives sent it a criminal referral on February 9, 2022, based on the findings of records with “classified markings” in 15 boxes of materials Trump gave to the Archives a month prior.


"A comparison of the redacted and unredacted material shows the Archives acted in concert with several Biden administration agencies to build the case -- coordination that included the DOJ, the Biden White House, and the intelligence community.

Semper-Fi said:

Unredactions Reveal Early White House Involvement in Trump Documents Case

By Julie Kelly, RealClearInvestigationsMay 2, 2024 Jack Smith, special counsel: Opposed releasing files on the handling of Trump's documents case. AP Top Biden administration officials worked with

www.realclearinvestigations.com

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More than 300 pages of newly unredacted exhibits, containing emails and other correspondence related to the early stages of the hunt for presidential papers, challenge public statements by Joe Biden about what he knew and when he knew it regarding the case against his political rival.

Although Biden himself is not mentioned in the exhibits, the active participation of Su and other high-ranking White House officials raises questions about whether Biden was forthright when he told “60 Minutes” he wasn’t involved in the investigation.

Wow. Biden says he wasn't involved. The documents don't mention Biden. But doesn't the very fact of nothing at all raise the question of whether Biden was lying?

essentialsaltes said:

Wow. Biden says he wasn't involved. The documents don't mention Biden. But doesn't the very fact of nothing at all raise the question of whether Biden was lying?

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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted that neither
Biden nor anyone at the White House “was given a heads up” about
the raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion.

A comparison of the redacted and unredacted material shows
the Archives acted in concert with several Biden administration
agencies to build the case -- coordination that included the DOJ,
the Biden White House, and the intelligence community.

National Archives show top officials in the Biden regime worked with
the National Archives to sabotage Mr. Trump even after he left office.
No wonder they tried so hard to seal, and keep those records sealed.

Semper-Fi said:

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted that neither
Biden nor anyone at the White House “was given a heads up” about
the raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion.

A comparison of the redacted and unredacted material shows

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Anything about the raid? The article's making a big deal out of things in 2021, but I don't think the raid was even conceived at that point. Feel free to prove me wrong.

Because the criminal referral only came in 2022, as the article notes.

Semper-Fi said:

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted that neither
Biden nor anyone at the White House “was given a heads up” about
the raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion.

A comparison of the redacted and unredacted material shows
the Archives acted in concert with several Biden administration
agencies to build the case -- coordination that included the DOJ,
the Biden White House, and the intelligence community.

National Archives show top officials in the Biden regime worked with
the National Archives to sabotage Mr. Trump even after he left office.
No wonder they tried so hard to seal, and keep those records sealed.

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The National Archives was looking for missing WH documents and classified material from the Trump era. It is completely normal for them to talk to the organization that made, tracks, and controls those documents -- the White House. Those documents controlled by the WH unless transferred to the Archives. That control does not stop with the change of administration, so of course NARA was in contact with officials at the White House particularly those that track documents and the WH Counsel's office.

That NARA was in contact with the appropriate officials at the WH in their search for the missing documents is not news or unexpected. It tells us nothing about whether the most extreme attempt to recover those documents (the execution of a search warrant by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago) was noticed to the WH before it happened. You can believe Ms. Jean-Pierre or not, but none of this is evidence of lies about a "heads-up" from her. You know who else knew about the recovery efforts, but wasn't given a "heads up"? Donald Trump.

Semper-Fi said:

National Archives show top officials in the Biden regime worked with
the National Archives to sabotage Mr. Trump even after he left office.
No wonder they tried so hard to seal, and keep those records sealed.

Click to expand...

The transition from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration was “Rocky”, but see, how Donald Trump is The Real Victim here!

It’s like amateur night for four long years.

Federal judge found ‘strong evidence’ of crimes before Trump was charged in classified documents case​

Months before Donald Trump was indicted for mishandling classified documents, a federal judge said that investigators had “strong evidence” that the former president “intended” to hide classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, according to newly released court documents.

Judge Beryl Howell cited, among other things, the discovery of additional classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago months after the FBI’s search of the property in the summer of 2022. The records included a “mostly empty” folder marked as “Classified Evening Summary” that was found in the former president’s bedroom, as well as four other documents with classification markings found in his post-presidential office at the resort.

“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,” Howell wrote in March 2023.

Unsealed motions in Trump’s Fla. case suggest new evidence of possible obstruction​

The long-shot motions, which were strongly opposed by prosecutors, claim the indictment should be dismissed because of improper investigatory tactics.

U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon ... scheduled a number of hearings on motions to dismiss the case, including one Wednesday that focuses on filings by one of Trump’s two co-defendants. Legal experts say Cannon has let decisions on these dismissal requests and other motions pile up, delaying the trial, and that her decision to schedule the hearings suggests that she is at least entertaining requests that seem to be without legal merit.

Cannon has not scheduled a hearing so far on Trump’s motions that were unsealed Tuesday

Buried in the supporting documentation for one of the motions was a document that contained a new public revelation: Once Trump realized that security cameras at Mar-a-Lago could capture his employees moving classified government information that officials were attempting to retrieve, he allegedly ensured that they would avoid the cameras when moving boxes.

The detail suggests prosecutors have more evidence of alleged obstruction by Trump than they included in their criminal indictment — a situation that is not unusual in criminal cases.

Prosecutors told Howell that such a directive would explain why there is no footage showing them return certain boxes to the storage room before officials, acting on a separate search warrant, came to collect them.

“The government has provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the June 24, 2022 phone call may have furthered the former president’s efforts to obstruct the government’s investigation,” Howell’s opinion reads.