The Department of Justice has subpoenaed security video from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort because “officials are not certain whether they have recovered all the presidential records,” according to The New York Times.
Sources told the Times that Justice Department officials are trying to get additional footage of the August 8 raid at the ex-president’s Palm Beach golf resort, a clear signal that the investigation is expanding.
The Times also reports that over 300 sensitive documents were taken by Trump when he left the White House.
Documents seized by the FBI were marked “Top Secret,” “Secret” and “Confidential.”
The disgraced former president is suspected of having violated several sections of federal law, including the Espionage Act, which could result in Trump serving decades in prison if he is charged and found guilty.
On Monday, Trump and his attorneys filed a bizarre court document in which they argue that the former president did indeed engage in illegal behavior:
Specifically, the filing states that Trump was subpoenaed on May 11, 2022, and “On June 2, 2022, President Trump, through counsel, invited the FBI to come to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve responsive documents.”
Approximately a month later, Trump extended an invitation for the FBI to return and verify what he had in his possession. That raises the question of why still had documents after June 2. That led to the search warrant being issued because the ex-president was still in violation of the law.
The court filing also has a direct admission from Trump that he did indeed take classified government documents, which is expressly forbidden and illegal under both the Espionage Act and the Presidential Records Act.
Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe had this to say about Trump’s amateurish court filing:
“It doesn’t really give any good reasons for thinking this warrant was illegal. In fact, one of the amazing things that I agree with is a statement on page 13 that President Trump, he still calls himself President Trump, should not be treated differently from any other citizen. Finally, he gets that right. Any other citizen who took top-secret material to not just a private home but a resort, like Mar-a-Lago, which has been penetrated by Chinese spies and perhaps by others, would be prosecuted under the Espionage Act. So, he is sort of asking Merrick Garland to prosecute him. Thank you, Mr. Trump, I won’t call him President Trump.”
