Overview
Before Donald Trump left the presidency in 2021, he handled many classified documents and often stored some in his private residence and properties. This is not too uncommon for presidents to do and it allows them to view the classified information without having to be in the White House.source needed The attorney who is in charge of the investigation, Jack Smith, is leading this case.source needed
Things I already know (Mostly in order by timeline):
- Donald Trump had documents in the Mar-O-Lago hotel during his presidency, which is allowed.
- After his term ended, however, he kept these documents within the hotel.
- This normally is not a big deal, considering this is common for presidents to have to deal with, since Obama had the same problems, and even Joe Biden, the difference is how Donald Trump handled these documents.
- After NARA, the government agency tasked with organizing and collecting classified documents, asked Donald Trump to return the documents, Donald Trump didn’t just not return all the documents, but more importantly, knowingly didn’t return all of them.
- Notably in one instance, on a recording, Donald Trump was discussing one of the classified documents with some employees of the hotel and described what it was about without proper clearance or authority.
- NARA knew this because they keep a record of all classified documentation and what they don’t have.
- Despite NARA’s demands that Donald Trump return all the documents, and even threatening an FBI investigation, Donald Trump never returned all the documents willingly. On the contrary, Joe Biden, when confronted with the same issues, always complied.
- The FBI later did, in fact, start and investigation and uncovered boxes of documents placed all around the hotel, including many left in public view and access within the hotel.
- During the investigation, the also uncovered conversations through text from employees discussing moving boxes around the hotel with the explicit purpose of hiding them from authorities.