Obstruction emerges as key focus in Mar-a-lago search
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department sought a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s residence in Florida after obtaining evidence that highly classified documents were likely concealed and that Trump’s representatives had falsely claimed all sensitive material had been returned, according to a court filing by the department Tuesday.
The filing came in response to Trump’s request for an independent review of materials seized from his home, Mar-a-lago. But it went far beyond that, painting the clearest picture yet of the department’s efforts to retrieve the documents before taking the extraordinary step of searching a former president’s private property Aug. 8.
Among the new disclosures in the 36-page filing late Tuesday were that the search yielded three classified documents in desks inside Trump’s office, with more than 100 documents in 13 boxes or containers with classification markings in the residence, including some at the most restrictive levels.
That was twice the number of classified documents the former president’s lawyers turned over voluntarily while swearing an oath that they had returned all the material demanded by the government.
The investigation into Trump’s retention of government documents began as a relatively straightforward attempt to recover materials that officials with the National Archives had spent much of 2021 trying to retrieve. The latest clurt filing made clear that prosecutors are now unmistakably focused on the possibility that Trump and those around him took criminal steps to obstruct their investigation.
Investigators developed evidence that “government records were likely concealed and removed” from the storage room at Mar-a-lago after the Justice Department sent Trump’s office a subpoena for any remaining documents with classified markings. That led prosecutors to conclude that “efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation,” the government filing said.
The filing included one striking visual aid — a photograph of at least five yellow folders recovered from Trump’s resort and residence marked “Top Secret” and another red one labeled