The US Department of Justice said on Tuesday it had found evidence to suggest that documents taken from the White House when Donald Trump left office were later hidden in his Florida home to obstruct a federal investigation into his whereabouts. .
A lawyer for Trump “explicitly prohibited” FBI agents from searching boxes in a warehouse on the property during a search in June, the department said in a court filing.
“The government also verified evidence that government records were likely withheld and removed from the Storage Room and that efforts were likely made to obstruct the government’s investigation,” the department argued in a filing filed with a South Florida district court.
The Justice Department’s filings are made public in preparation for a hearing on Thursday before US District Judge Aileen Cannon in West Palm Beach. She is considering Trump’s request to name a “special master” who would conduct an insider review of documents seized at Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8, many of which were classified as classified.
A “special master” is an independent third party sometimes appointed by a court in sensitive cases to review material potentially protected by attorney-client privilege to ensure investigators do not view it improperly.
In Trump’s initial court filing, his lawyers claimed the former president wanted to protect materials that were subject to a legal doctrine known as executive privilege, which can protect some presidential communications.
But legal experts questioned that argument, saying it made no sense for a former president to claim he wanted to claim privileges against the executive branch itself.
