Trump kept time coverage of “enemies” knocking on his window in the collection of classified files — including documents labeled “Top Secret” — that spread across Mar-a-Lago
- FBI agents also found more than 100 documents discovered in 13 boxes or containers with classification marks during his August raid on Trump’s home
- Trump attorneys asked a court to appoint a “special master” to sort them
- The Justice Department responded with a glowing memo describing the treasure trove
- They contained an image of top secret material on Trump’s office FLOOR
- Also featured is the time cover of rivals looking at Trump
- Notes filing documents were discovered after Trump’s lawyers claimed to have conducted a “diligent search.”
- The government explained its suspicions that Trump and his team were trying to obstruct their investigation. The filing included a photo with documents marked “top secret.”
Government attorneys released an image of top-secret material strewn on the floor of the office of President Donald Trump’s former home in Florida, which also revealed a Time magazine cover photo predicting his future defeat.
Trump, who is known to covet the magazine’s recognition and diligently reads the coverage of himself, saved a framed issue of the magazine, which had “Knock Knock” on the February 2019 cover.
It showed a crowd of Democratic candidates looking into the Oval Office — with then-former Vice President Joe Biden front and center.
The magazine can be seen between a stack of identical images.
All around, spread out on a patterned carpet, are documents with a conspicuous red “TOP SECRET / SCI” mark – a very high level of secrecy. SCI stands for “Sensitive Compartmented Information”.
The filing states that even some of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Service for National Security employees and Justice Department attorneys had to obtain additional clearances just to screen them.
The Justice Department released a chilling legal filing Tuesday night that included a photo of documents seized during the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago. At right is a framed cover of Time magazine
The government attached a picture, along with a 36-page file detailing the months-long effort that culminated in a subpoena to reclaim government documents. This preceded an August 8 FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago.
More secret documents were found in Trump’s desk.
The filing also signaled an investigation into government obstruction against the former president.
“The government has also developed evidence that government records were likely hidden and removed from storage and that efforts were likely made to obstruct the government’s investigation,” said the filing, received just before midnight on Tuesday.
The Time cover shows a cautious Trump seated in the Oval Office. Watching are Joe Biden and potential Democrat rivals
Former President Trump attacked the FBI over the search, claiming agents laid documents on the floor without presenting evidence
The government says found materials agents undermine a claim signed by a Trump attorney that his team conducted a “diligent search.”
The FBI recovered “in a matter of hours, in a matter of hours, twice as many documents with classified classifications as the “diligent search” that the former president’s attorney and other officials had to conduct for weeks,” the filing said.
The Time cover features a group of Democrats who regularly attack or taunt Trump, some of whom now hold prominent positions of power. Joining Biden now are Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Senator Bernie Sanders and Texas Senate nominee Beto O’Rourke. Everyone wanted to take on Trump in 2020.
Trump was named Time’s “Person of the Year” in 2016, and he complained on subsequent occasions when he was denied recognition. The magazine said he was “wrong” the following year when he complained about canceling an interview when told he was only “likely” to get the credit again.
“But I would have to agree to an interview and a big photo shoot. I said probably isn’t good and took a pass. Thank you anyway!’ Trump wrote.
Trump on Wednesday attacked the FBI over the search, claiming agents laid documents on the ground without presenting evidence
“Terrifying how during the Mar-a-Lago raid the FBI threw documents on the ground at random (maybe as if it was me!) and then started photographing them for the public to see,” he said in a post by Truth Social.
‘Thought they wanted them kept secret? Luckily I declassified!’
The government noted in its filing that Trump’s team had not claimed in the correspondence that Trump had declassified the documents or asserted executive privilege over them.