Former President Donald Trump is criticizing the FBI after a picture of documents recovered at Mar-a-Lago was released.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, “Terrible the way the FBI, during the Raid of Mar-a-Lago, threw documents haphazardly all over the floor (perhaps pretending it was me that did it!), and then started taking pictures of them for the public to see.”
“Thought they wanted them kept Secret? Lucky I Declassified!” he added.
The Justice Department released a picture of some of the documents that were apparently recovered during the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago.
The picture showed several documents spread out on the floor with sections that were whited out to obscure what was on the pages.
However, the words “secret” and “top secret” can be clearly seen on several documents.
The picture also showed a box holding framed covers of Time Magazine.
NEWS: DOJ's new filing includes. photo of the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8. https://t.co/nm567c96bi pic.twitter.com/0U2hoSogxQ
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 31, 2022
In a legal filing, the Justice Department revealed that it obtained the warrant to search Mar-a-Lago after receiving information that suggested there was “likely” an effort to conceal classified documents, despite a grand jury subpoena.
Justice Department counterintelligence chief Jay Bratt wrote, “The government also developed evidence that government records were likely concealed and removed from the Storage Room and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation.”
“That the FBI, in a matter of hours, recovered twice as many documents with classification markings as the ‘diligent search’ that the former President’s counsel and other representatives had weeks to perform calls into serious question the representations made in the June 3 certification and casts doubt on the extent of cooperation in this matter,” he continued.
A lawyer for the former president signed a declaration in June that claimed all material that was marked as classified had been returned to the government.
The Justice Department filing argued that the “commingling” of the documents with other objects is “relevant evidence of the statutory offenses under investigation.”
It also said that three classified documents were discovered in a “desk drawer.”
Trump has claimed that there was a “standing order” that declassified documents he took to Mar-a-Lago.
However, former Trump administration officials have raised doubts that such an order actually existed.
The government also refuted the former president’s claims that the documents should be returned to him.
“Any Presidential records seized pursuant to the search warrant belong to the United States, not to the former President,” Bratt wrote.
