Justice Dept. intensifying efforts to determine if Trump hid documents
Federal prosecutors investigating former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents have obtained the confidential cooperation of a person who has worked for him at Mar-a-Lago, part of an intensifying effort to determine whether Trump ordered boxes containing sensitive material moved out of a storage room there as the government sought to recover it last year, multiple people familiar with the inquiry said.
Through a wave of new subpoenas and grand jury testimony, the Justice Department is moving aggressively to develop a fuller picture of how the documents Trump took with him from the White House were stored, who had access to them, how the security camera system at Mar-a-Lago works and what Trump told aides and his lawyers about what material he had and where it was, the people said.
At the heart of the inquiry is whether Trump sought to hide some documents after the Justice Department issued a subpoena last May demanding their return.
The existence of an insider witness, whose identity has not been disclosed, could be a significant step in the investigation, which is being overseen by Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. The witness is said to have provided investigators with a picture of the storage room where the material had been held. Little else is known about what prosecutors might have learned from the witness or when the witness first began to provide information to the prosecutors.
But prosecutors appear to be trying to fill in some gaps in their knowledge about the movement of the boxes, created in part by their handling of another potentially key witness, Trump’s valet, Walt Nauta. Prosecutors believe Nauta has failed to provide them with a full and accurate account of his role in any movement of boxes containing the classified documents.
In the past few weeks, at least four more Mar-a-Lago employees have been subpoenaed, along with another person who had visibility into Trump’s thinking when he first returned material to the National Archives, according to people briefed on the matter. Two people said that nearly everyone who works at Mar-a-Lago has been subpoenaed, and that some who serve in fairly obscure jobs have been asked back by investigators.
Prosecutors have also issued several subpoenas to Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, seeking additional surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago, his residence and private club in Florida, people with knowledge of the matter said. While the footage could shed light on the movement of the boxes, prosecutors have questioned a number of witnesses about gaps in the footage, one of the people said.
But hoping to understand why some of the footage from the storage camera appears to be missing or unavailable — and whether that was a technological issue or something else — the prosecutors subpoenaed the software company that handles all of the surveillance footage for the Trump Organization, including at Mar-a-Lago.
And they recently subpoenaed Matthew Calamari Sr., the longtime head of security at the Trump Organization who became its chief operating officer. His son, Matthew Calamari Jr., who is the company’s corporate director of security, was subpoenaed some time ago, according to a person familiar with the activity.
Both would have insight into the security camera operation, according to people familiar with the matter. Both Calamaris appeared before the grand jury gathering evidence in the case Thursday. CNN first reported that prosecutors planned to question them.
One of the previously unreported subpoenas to the Trump Organization sought records pertaining to Trump’s dealings with a Saudi-backed professional golf venture known as LIV Golf, which is holding tournaments at some of Trump’s golf resorts.
It is unclear what bearing Trump’s relationship with LIV Golf has on the broader investigation, but it suggests that the prosecutors are examining certain elements of Trump’s family business.
A spokesperson for Trump called the case “a targeted, politically motivated witch hunt” that is “concocted to meddle in an election and prevent the American people from returning him to the White House.” The spokesperson accused Smith’s office of harassing “anyone who has worked for President Trump” and of now using the inquiry to target Trump’s business.
Investigators have been piecing together Trump’s handling of government documents for months, seeking information not just about his habits after leaving the White House but also about his practices as president. Among the information they have gathered in interviews concerned his habit of flushing material down toilets, according to a person familiar with the matter.
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