In June, Trump's lawyer wouldn't let DOJ and FBI agents search boxes in a Mar-a-Lago storage room.
The DOJ said 76 classified documents were found in that room during the raid two months later.
The discovery "casts doubt on the extent of cooperation in this matter," the DOJ wrote in a court filing Tuesday.
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The FBI and Department of Justice discovered 76 classified documents in a Mar-a-Lago storage room during the August raid — the same room Trump's lawyer refused to let them search in June, according to court documents.
The filing, released Tuesday night, revealed additional information about the August 8 raid including the DOJ's conclusion that "efforts were likely taken" to obstruct its investigation into Trump's handling of government records.
Trump's lawyer let a DOJ attorney and FBI agents into a Mar-a-Lago storage room after turning over 38 classified documents, according to the filing.
But, Trump's lawyer "explicitly prohibited" agents from looking inside any boxes that were still in the room.
Eventually, investigators gathered enough evidence that classified documents were still in that room to apply for a search warrant.
"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," the DOJ said in the court filing.
The August raid uncovered 76 classified documents in that room alone, according to the court document.
Investigators found twice the number of documents Trump's attorneys had taken "weeks" to turn over, according to the filing — which the government said "casts doubt on the extent of cooperation in this matter."
The Department of Justice has said in court filings that it is investigating whether the former president broke three federal statutes — including the Espionage Act — by keeping classified national-security documents at his Florida estate after leaving office.
DesperateImpression6 on August 31st, 2022 at 15:52 UTC »
I just want to highlight the current MAGA defense of these new revelations:
The pics were staged
"Staged" is trending on Twitter as these people work themselves into a pretzel trying to argue that a crime scene photo documenting confidential documents is proof positive that this whole thing is a fake.
I don't know why but this might be what breaks me. It's honestly worse than the "It wasn't us at the Capitol on Jan 6 it was Antifa and if you indict Trump we'll do it again" argument. This is unbelievable, as in I straight up can't believe it, and yet it's working for them somehow. They're not detached from reality, they're actively hostile against it.
jeanvaljean_24601 on August 31st, 2022 at 15:00 UTC »
They keep getting caught. Lies upon lies upon lies.
And then idiot boy goes on his dollar store Twitter to say "lucky i declassified"
veridique on August 31st, 2022 at 14:50 UTC »
Time for those lawyers to lawyer up.