Two people who found two classified documents at a Donald Trump storage facility in Florida testified before a federal grand jury in Washington that is looking into the former president’s handling of national security records at his Mar-a-Lago residence, from according to sources familiar with the case.
The two individuals who were hired to search four of Trump’s properties last fall were interviewed for about three hours at separate appearances last week.
They were hired to search Trump’s Bedminster golf club, Trump Tower in New York, a Florida office and a Florida storage unit last October, months after the FBI executed a search warrant in Mar-a- Lake.
The extent of the information they offered the grand jury remains unclear, although they did not refuse to answer any questions, one of the sources said.
The development comes at the same time that federal prosecutors are pressing to examine files on a laptop of at least one member of staff surrounding Trump in Mar-a-Lago, according to multiple sources.
Sometimes the special counsel’s office is unwilling to negotiate with defense attorneys over recent subpoenas, leading to tense conversations.
In pressing for access to the computers, investigators are trying to determine whether there is an electronic paper trail on the classified documents, another source said.
Taken together, the investigative moves underscore that there is continued grand jury activity in the Mar-a-Lago documents case, at a time when the Justice Department has new investigations into unsecured national security records underway involving the president. Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence.
The Justice Department declined to comment to CNN as well as a Trump lawyer.
Federal prosecutors have taken a more aggressive stance on Trump’s inquiry since last summer, when the Justice Department disclosed that it had evidence that records Trump kept in Florida had been concealed or removed, raising the need for an obstruction investigation.
Biden and Pence’s situations were markedly different.
While also highlighting sloppy tracking of classified papers, the Biden and Pence teams promptly returned them to intelligence officers.
The discovery of additional records by the two people Trump’s lawyers hired came in November, well after Trump’s team and the FBI, under a court-approved warrant, unearthed hundreds of other classified pages in his possession after his presidency.
At that time, Trump’s lawyers were locked in a dispute with the Justice Department over whether they had properly searched his properties and turned over any classified records still in his possession.
The DOJ was not satisfied and the investigation continued.
A court fight in which the DOJ sought to disrespect Trump for failing to comply with a May 2022 subpoena for all records also remains unresolved.
Since investigators sent that subpoena, Trump’s lawyers have responded three times in writing that they have conducted diligent searches.
Special Counsel Jack Smith and the prosecutors who now work for him used the federal grand jury almost weekly to question witnesses in the Mar-a-Lago investigation.
Witnesses last week answered all the questions they were asked, without any attempt to assert any confidentiality, one of the sources said.
Source: CNN Brasil
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