Officials believed the Mar-a-Lago documents had national security implications, according to sources.
There were also suspicions that Trump’s representatives were not telling the full truth to investigators after months of debate on the matter, the sources said.
Before FBI agents arrived at Trump’s private club on Monday to search his residence, people around the former president gave the impression that an investigation into how he handled classified information was stalled. had received
After the National Archives referred the case to the Justice Department earlier this year, investigators have spent months investigating what Trump did with the documents he brought with him as he left the White House. It’s unclear why those around the former president believed the investigation was stalled, but in June his attorney told investigators that the rest of the documents in his possession were “until further notice.” A source told CNN that he had received a letter asking him to keep it.
The concerns came after the former president returned about 15 boxes of material to the National Archives.
On Monday, federal agents removed a box of materials from the Palm Beach property.
The Secret Service was ready about an hour before the FBI executed the warrant, a source familiar with the situation told CNN. The Secret Service verified the search warrant and met with FBI agents when they arrived to ensure they had unrestricted access, but the Secret Service agents themselves did not help with the search, sources said. Told.
The facility’s oldest Secret Service officer served as the point of contact.
Trump denies all wrongdoing, claiming the investigation was a politically motivated hoax and intended to derail any chance of a return to the White House.
“The Justice Department has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization,” McCarthy said, warning Attorney General Merrick Garland to “save your documents and empty your calendars.”
House Republicans briefly discussed the FBI investigation on Tuesday’s conference call, multiple sources told CNN.
Whitney Wilde of CNN contributed to this report.
Source: www.cnn.com
