Donald Trump (screen capture)
FBI agents found dozens of classified documents in Mar-a-Lago search: sources https://t.co/ys9214kHLP pic.twitter.com/Rhcdyz5FtD
— The Hill (@thehill) August 12, 2022
On one hand, his conservative allies tried to spin the tale that “the FBI planted the documents there.” Plus, as the New York Times reports, “A lawyer for Donald J. Trump signed a written statement in June asserting that all material marked as classified in a storage area at Mar-a-Lago had been returned to the government, four people with knowledge of the document said.” And yet, there the 11 sets of documents were when the FBI came calling on Monday. Perhaps the fact that the lawyer signed that declaration is a possible indication that Trump or his team were not “fully forthcoming with federal investigators about the materials.” Then Trump seemingly acknowledged he had the documents but said it was ok because he had issued a “standing order” that any documents removed from the Oval Office were considered “declassified.”
So the FBI planted classified evidence, but also Trump declassified that evidence that he never took, but also it’s not even a big deal if he did take it because only one box was classified I mean declassified, but also even if he did have many boxes of classified documents…
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) August 12, 2022
Impressive foresight on the part of Trump to issue a “standing order” eighteen months ago to declassify the documents the FBI planted this week at Mar-a-Lago.
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) August 13, 2022
notes that Trump now claims the documents were at Mar-a-Lago because “everyone ends up having to bring home their work from time to time.” So Trump is acknowledging he had the documents. So much for conservatives trying to claim they might have been ‘planted’ by the FBI.
Trump’s latest defense for Mar-a-Lago documents is everyone ‘brings home their work from time to time’ and the files were automatically declassified https://t.co/GZTBKHQTrE
— Politics Insider (@PoliticsInsider) August 13, 2022
Trump said Friday that he had declassified all the material in his possession while he was still president. He provided no documentation to back the statement https://t.co/JKTTvk2a5H
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 13, 2022
But what none of this answers is: Why did he have them in his home some 18 months after his term as president ended? Those documents were no longer his to “work” on.
I held a Top Secret Security Clearance. If I had taken documents home with me I would have lost my career and would have spent time in Leavenworth. Anyone else caught with what they found in Mar-a-Lago would go to prison for a long time. That’s a FACT!
— Richard N. Ojeda, II (@Ojeda4America) August 13, 2022
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