This week’s
FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort came two months after his attorneys cooperated with a grand jury subpoena, turning over additional documents to federal investigators at the estate, multiple outlets reported Thursday.
CNN reported that the subpoena was issued shortly before an early June meeting, during which Justice Department officials were shown the basement storage room where boxes of documents and other memorabilia from Trump’s four years in the White House were reportedly kept. The outlet added that the 45th president’s attorneys handed over all documents that were marked “top secret.”
CNN and the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump greeted the agents at the start of the meeting, with the Journal quoting him as saying: “I appreciate the job you’re doing” and adding: “Anything you need, let us know.”
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Jay Bratt, the Justice Department’s counterintelligence chief, made a written request June 8 — five days after the initial meeting — for a stronger lock on the basement door, signing his note: “Thank you.” A source told the paper that a new lock was put in place the next day.
At some point in the following days, according to the outlet, investigators received a tip that there may be additional classified documents at the resort.
On June 22, the Journal reported, the Trump Organization received a subpoena for security camera footage from Mar-a-Lago, which was turned over.
That was the last major development on the case until Monday’s raid, when plainclothes FBI agents removed approximately a dozen boxes of documents and other materials after searching locations including a bedroom, a safe, and former first lady Melania Trump’s closet.
This week’s FBI search at Mar-a-Lago isn’t the first time the feds came to former president Donald Trump’s Florida resort seeking classified documents, according to a report Thurs…
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