(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) The boxes of documents alleged to contain classified information, for which the FBI raided former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, were packed up at the White House by the General Services Administration, Breitbart reported.
According to journalist David Martosko, a source close to the president confirmed that the boxes were packed by government staffers, not Trump’s own staff.
A person very close to Donald Trump tells me it's indeed true what's being bandied about Twitter — that the @USGSA, not Trump or anyone working for him in the White House, packed the boxes that the FBI took in Monday's raid. If that's true, it scrambles the omelet a bit.
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) August 13, 2022
“A person very close to Donald Trump tells me it’s indeed true what’s being bandied about Twitter—that the @USGSA, not Trump or anyone working for him in the White House, packed the boxes that the FBI took in Monday’s raid. If that’s true, it scrambles the omelet a bit,” Martosko posted Aug. 13 on Twitter.
The claims of the left-wing Martosko (who boasts of having asked the question that triggered Trump’s first phony impeachment effort) were confirmed on Monday to Breitbart.
While much remains unknown about the specific case the FBI is hoping to build—with the deadline Thursday for the agency to submit its requested redactions from an affidavit used to obtain the unprecedented search warrant—the GSA’s role may severely undermine federal prosecutors’ ability to prove intent.
The situation somewhat parallels the scandal surrounding the use of a private email server by Trump’s 2016 campaign rival, Hillary Clinton, to receive classified State Department information while circumventing the Freedom of Information Act.
The charging decision was punted to then-FBI Director James Comey who—under duress from then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch—announced in July 2016 that the Justice Department would not indict Clinton since it could not prove intent.
Unlike with Clinton, many expect the politicized DOJ under current Attorney General Merrick Garland to file charges—even while using the plethora of private files it confiscated to glean additional dirt ahead of Trump’s anticipated 2024 presidential campaign.
The search warrant for the Mar-a-Lago raid indicated that the FBI is pursuing a case for removal or destruction of records; obstruction of an investigation; and violating a provision of the Espionage Act related to gathering, transmitting or losing defense information, according to CBS News.
None of those require that the FBI prove the records were classified. However, mainstream media outlets continue to carp over the classification question as Trump contends he had the ultimate authority to declassify materials as he saw fit.
“In total, the government has recovered more than 300 documents with classified markings from Mr. Trump since he left office,” wrote the New York Times. “… [T]hat first batch of documents returned in January, another set provided by Mr. Trump’s aides to the Justice Department in June and the material seized by the F.B.I. in the search this month.”
Upon the discovery of some documents on a prior FBI visit, the Trump team cooperated by returning all known sensitive material.
“Aides to Mr. Trump turned over a few dozen additional sensitive documents during a visit to Mar-a-Lago by Justice Department officials in early June,” the Times admitted.
Headline USA’s Ben Sellers contributed to this report.
