The Washington Post reported that the Justice Department has been investigating the potential mishandling of classified information after the National Archives and Records Administration said it had retrieved from Mar-a-Lago 15 boxes of records containing classified information earlier this year. Trump has previously maintained that presidential records were turned over “in an ordinary and routine process”, The Post reported.
The Justice Department has been probing the discovery of boxes of records containing classified information that were taken to Mar-a-Lago after Trump’s presidency had concluded.
Two people familiar with the investigation told the New York Times the search appeared to be focused on material Trump brought with him to Mar-a-Lago, after leaving the White House.
A supporter of former US president Donald Trump drives past his Mar-a-Lago estate, after the news of the raid.Credit:AP
For the past year, a congressional committee has also been probing the 2021 attack on the US Capitol, culminating in a series of explosive hearings that have accused the former president of knowingly inciting the incident as part of a deliberate and coordinated attempt to overthrow the 2020 election.
Earlier on Monday, in a legal filing, the US Justice Department defended its decision to seize the phone of John Eastman, the lawyer who helped devise Trump’s strategy to turn back the 2020 election results, Politico reported.
Trump, infamous for exaggerations and lies, claimed that he was once again being politically persecuted by “radical left Democrats” and likened the events to Watergate, the 1972 bungled burglary that led to the biggest political scandal of its time.
“What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democratic National Committee?” he asked, before claiming: “Here in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th president of the United States.”
Former President Donald Trump.Credit:AP
The raid comes three months before the midterm elections, and as candidates who espouse Trump’s false claims that the last presidential election was stolen are steadily advancing through their primaries.
This has worried the old guard in the Republican Party who fears that some of those nominees are too extreme to appeal to mainstream voters, particularly in the suburbs where elections are won or lost.
The latest case study of Trump’s brand of election denialism emerged in Arizona on Tuesday, where three Republicans who back his lies won important positions in the critical swing state.
The White House is yet to respond to the matter, referring questions to the Justice Department, which is also yet to respond.
The Justice department has charged about 800 defendants for their roles in the January 6 attack, but has been criticised for moving too slowly in probing Trump and his inner circle.
Attorney-General Merrick Garland has simply said the department will “follow the facts, wherever they lead.”
