- In June, Trump’s lawyer wouldn’t let DOJ and FBI agents search boxes in a storage room in Mar-a-Lago.
- The DOJ said 76 classified documents were found in that room during the raid on Trump’s property two months later.
- The discovery “casts doubt on the extent of cooperation in this matter,” the DOJ wrote in a court filing Tuesday.
The FBI and Department of Justice discovered 76 classified documents in a Mar-a-Lago storage room during the August raid — the same room Trump’s lawyer refused to let them search in June, according to court documents.
The filing, released Tuesday night, revealed additional information about the August 8 raid including the DOJ’s conclusion that “efforts were likely taken” to obstruct its investigation into Trump’s handling of government records.
Trump’s lawyer let a DOJ attorney and FBI agents into a Mar-a-Lago storage room after turning over 38 classified documents, according to the filing.
But, Trump’s lawyer “explicitly prohibited” agents from looking inside any boxes that were still in the room.
Eventually, investigators gathered enough evidence that classified documents were still in that room to apply for a search warrant.
“The government also developed evidence that government records were likely concealed and removed from the Storage Room and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation,” the DOJ said in the court filing.
The August raid uncovered 76 classified documents in that room alone, according to the court document.
Investigators found twice the number of documents Trump’s attorneys had taken “weeks” to turn over, according to the filing — which the government says “casts doubt on the extent of cooperation in this matter.”
The Department of Justice has said in court filings that it is investigating whether the former president broke three federal statutes — including the Espionage Act — by keeping classified national security documents at his Florida estate after leaving office.
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