Attorneys for former President Donald Trump and Justice Department officials held discussions earlier this summer about material at Trump’s Florida estate, even after more than a dozen boxes of records were returned to the National Archives much earlier.
In June, a small group of officials from the Justice Department and FBI met with Trump lawyers at Mar-a-Lago, a meeting first reported by CNN and confirmed by The Washington Post. The group made the trip to learn more about additional documents, potentially classified, that were stored at the former president’s estate, according to reports.
On Tuesday, a day after the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, Trump attorney Christina Bobb told The Washington Post, and confirmed to NBC News, that agents on Monday removed about a dozen boxes stored in the estate’s basement.
The FBI had notified the Secret Service in advance of the law enforcement action, indicating the agency had a search warrant for the property, a person familiar with the action told USA TODAY.
The official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said the Secret Service facilitated the FBI’s entry to the property but did not participate in the search.
Timeline:Trump records investigation: From early red flags to the search at Mar-a-Lago
Historical comparison?:Watergate ‘in reverse’? Historians and legal analysts pan Trump’s claims and point to legal peril ahead
GOP’s turn away from FBI
Republican lawmakers had sharp words for Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Justice Department following Monday’s search at Mar-a-Lago.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy vowed to investigate the DOJ should Republicans take control of the House in midterm elections. The Twitter account of the House Judiciary Committee GOP was even more intense.
Republicans have been the party of law and order since the 1970s, with those three words mentioned in nearly every major GOP campaign since that time, said Mike Cornfield, an associate professor of political management at George Washington University who studies political rhetoric.
“They remain committed to that slogan when it comes to border control and Democrats and the children of Democrats, such as Hunter Biden, but otherwise it’s a selective application of the principle,” he said.
Read more on the GOP’s response to DOJ here.
More reactions:Pence expresses ‘deep concern’ over Mar-a-Lago search, asks for ‘full accounting’ from Garland
Trump huddles with House GOP a day after FBI search
Former President Donald Trump held a dinner meeting with a dozen House Republicans on Tuesdayand his guests said he radiated confidence despite the FBI search of his Florida home the previous day.
Rep. Jim Banks, R-Indiana, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, tweeted out a photo of Trump and his guests with their thumbs up. Banks said that “House conservatives are united in standing with President Trump. We will Make America Great Again!”
–David Jackson
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism