Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Mar-a-Lago insider cooperating with Special Counsel probe into Trump’s hoard of secret documents, report says

Prosecutors reportedly working to establish if former president attempted to hide documents at Florida home

Graeme Massie
Los Angeles
Friday 05 May 2023 02:18 BST
Comments
Trump ending Scotland golfing trip early to attend rape trial in New York

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A Mar-a-Lago insider is helping Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the former president’s handling of top secret documents at his luxury Florida estate, a report says.

Federal investigators have issued a string of new subpoenas in the probe and are trying to discover if Mr Trump ordered boxes containing confidential documents to be moved out of a storage room as the government attempted to recover them, sources told The New York Times.

The Special Counsel’s prosecutors are trying to establish if Mr Trump attempted to hide some documents even after the Justice Department issues a subpoena for their return last May, reported the newspaper.

The insider, whose identity has not been released, reportedly provided investigators with a picture of the Mar-a-Lago storage room where the documents were kept.

The newspaper says it is not known what else information the witness may have provided, or how long they may have been cooperating with the Justice Department.

Almost everyone who works at Mar-a-Lago has now been subpoenaed in the probe, sources told the newspaper, with at least four employees over the last few weeks alone.

Prosecutors have also issued several subpoenas to the Trump Organization, to obtain additional surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago, sources told the Times.

Prosecutors are reportedly trying to establish why some footage from the storage room cameras is missing or unavailable and have also subpoenaed the software company that handles the footage from Mr Trump’s private club and home.

Mr Smith, a longtime prosecutor, was appointed as Special Counsel to oversee the Trump investigation by US Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Mr Trump handed over 15 boxes of documents in January 2022, but suspecting that more remained prosecutors secured a search warrant and FBI agents carried out a search of Mar-a-Lago last August finding more classified documents.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in