FBI: Donald Trump hid more than 100 classified & top-secret documents

Last Friday, the Department of Justice released a partially redacted affidavit outlining the reasons why the FBI sought and received a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago. I covered it on Sunday – the FBI and DOJ had made, over the course of about nine months, a series of good-faith efforts to simply recover the classified, top-secret documents stolen by Donald Trump. Trump met those good-faith efforts with lies, obstruction and criminal behavior. Even after the FBI executed a subpoena for the documents in June, Trump had his lawyers swear that the FBI now had everything, all while he withheld boxes and boxes full of top-secret material. He then HID the documents all around Mar-a-Lago.

Well, Donald Trump keeps on making it worse for himself. He asked for an independent review of the materials seized from MAL, and so the DOJ filed a new 36-page disclosure to the court. Last Friday’s affidavit outlined the FBI’s probable cause for a search warrant. This filing discloses what the FBI actually FOUND in the August raid.

Among the new disclosures in the 36-page filing were that the search yielded three classified documents in desks inside Mr. 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 Mr. 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 filing on Tuesday made clear that prosecutors are now unmistakably focused on the possibility that Mr. 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 Mr. 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 Mr. Trump’s resort and residence marked “Top Secret” and another red one labeled “Secret.”

[From The NY Times]

So, Christina Bobb – Trump’s lawyer – signed the document swearing, in June, that Trump had turned over all classified material in his possession. Meaning she lied to the FBI and Justice in writing. She’s going to need her own lawyer. It’s really shocking that Trump just kept on obstructing for months and months even when the FBI was like “dude, we know what you have and you cannot keep it.” Trump was squirreling top-secret spy files in his unlocked desk in Mar-a-Lago. He was keeping sh-t in, like, cabanas and hotel closets?? It’s legitimately insane.

Here’s the photo the FBI included in their court filing. This is from the August raid, where they found all of the top-secret documents hidden away all around MAL.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, the FBI/DOJ.

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75 Responses to “FBI: Donald Trump hid more than 100 classified & top-secret documents”

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  1. Tito says:

    I dont know why I do this to myself. I shouldnt read Trump news. All he does is shit anyone else would get fined or time for. And it slides off his greasy ass every damn time. He will die grinning on his gold toilet, just as rich and free as he has always been.

    • Lorelei says:

      @Tito, me too. Nothing is ever going to happen to him, so clicking on these stories only serves to enrage me. Why hasn’t he been cuffed and hauled off already? Because it’s never going to happen. And I don’t understand why, but I need to just stop reading anything about it/him.

    • Lolo86lf says:

      I believe justice will be served in Donald Trump’s case. It is too severe for the DOJ to ignore it and sweep it under the table. It will take some time as Merrick Garland doesn’t have a magic wand to make it happen overnight. Trump is still a very powerful man who happens to be an ex president of the United States with the GOP still supporting him. Everyday I hold on to the conviction that Trump will be taken in handcuffs to a jailhouse someday this year.

      • Both Sides Now says:

        @ Lolo86lf, Drumpf will certainly be indicted. He has buried himself into his own stink of shit. Drumpf will not escape justice. I agree that Garland is going to proceed cautiously and make certain that he has every t croosed, every i dotted as well. Drumpf is certainly looking at obstructing the DOJ, espionage and possibly treason, given that he certainly sold of so many sensitive security details. Drumpf thought he was above the law but he isn’t. His blatant statement that those records belong to HIM shows how utterly disgusting he is as a human and an ex-POTUS.

        The amount of classified documents that were retrieved during the execution of the search warrant were so sensitive that many of those within the DOJ didn’t have the necessary security clearance to sort them. So they had to obtain those involved with the necessary clearances which added time to process all of the boxes. I think that given these obstacles, the DOJ was rather efficient in processing everything in such a limited time.

        I, for one am enjoying his downfall into the prison he will be sent to. His criminal actions have been allowed for too long to ignore. You don’t steal WH documents, especially those that are top secret and have detailed records of US agents in foreign countries.

    • ELX says:

      Enough with the doom and gloom—he will absolutely be indicted, an given what we know so far, convicted. The only question in my mind is whether he is imprisoned in the US or forced to leave the country (one way to Dubai where he has property) and not return or go anywhere else. Countries in our situation do better when a would-be dictator is exiled.

      • Lady D says:

        That’s actually a brilliant solution @ELX. Exile him, get rid of the problem and take the wind right out of his supporters sails.

      • Tiffany:) says:

        He had some of these documents in his desk with his passport…suggesting that if he needed to get away fast, he’d take them with him. I absolutely think he has an escape route planned, but he might be too sloppy to pull it off.

        I do think he will be indicted. They laid out clear evidence of crimes in this filing. It’s a matter of when and how much more is added to it.

        I also think they have evidence that he has misused this information, so they might be waiting to tidy up loose ends on that before they start charging. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is indicted the week after the midterm elections.

    • Gah says:

      IMO this is released to take attention away from Biden admin accomplishments. I loathe the orange greaseBall, but this might prove to be a stunt.

    • Truthiness says:

      Have hope for this case, it’s coming after midterms. Not earlier because of that statute about actions affecting midterms. Merrick Garland gave interviews in July that explained the timing and the delay. He repeated “no one is above the law” many times and the man hours it takes for an unprecedented case.

      Garland’s appointment was a big deal because he is and was a high level “law and order” prosecutor, the Republicans were not in love with it in light of Jan 6. He was in charge of prosecuting the OK city bomber (got death) and the Unabomber (8 life sentences). He was specifically chosen for this isht because of his history and high success record. Garland is supervising and the DOJ counterespionage chief was dispatched to Maralago in June, the highest levels of the DOJ are on it and reporting back to Garland.

  2. Well Wisher says:

    He would be indicted. He is also heavily indebted to the tune of $1billion.

    • notasugarhere says:

      His Russian and UAE buddies will pay off those debts in exchange for what he’s sold them about US security and operations. Just as JaredK has that mysterious 2 billion, likely from a similar source. Drumpf was never charged for the millions in Russian cash laundered through his NYC properties decades ago; I doubt he’s going to be charged with much of anything now either. Teflon Don.

      • Both Sides Now says:

        No, @ notasugarhere. He will be indicted. These mess that he has created are acts against the security of the US Governments most sensitive and secretive measures. There are legal scholars as well as those that have held office in both the FBI and DOJ that have clearly stated that this does not bode well for him. The measures to which he tried to maintain the sensitive materials is much too hot for his GOP buddies. As soon as the charges start coming, they will be ghosting him like a horrible date. It will be “Donald who?”, no don’t know him. Though they will try to scam his worshippers though for their own gain.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Even if he were to be indicted, unlikely anything would happen to him. People don’t seem to understand the value of what he (likely) sold and what assurances he’d get in return from the buyers. Easily 1/3 of the US military (including his Secret Service agents) are pro-Drumpf, pro-insurrection. Given the decades of what he’s gotten away with, even as the resident in the White House? A very real possibility, there are already plans for his *taxpayer-funded security* to sneak him to a private jet the moment they’re told an arrest is pending. He’ll be in Dubai or Moscow in a matter of hours. They won’t care he has no passports, they’ll hand him UAE or Russian citizenship.

        I cannot express how much *I wish I was wrong* about the probable outcome.

      • Truthiness says:

        Agreeing with Both Sides Now, Merrick Garland was specifically chosen for this unholy mess because he is and was a Harvard educated, high success rate, “gets his guy” federal prosecutor. The crimes evident in the photo above keep Donald from running for any kind of office. That’s a crucial win. His location is known round the clock because of government controlled (non military) secret service, secret service may have already informed DOJ on extremely specific Trump details that have recently come to light.

        The US military does NOT support Trump as shown in the NewYorker profile of “Trump and his Generals” – they think he is crazy, craven and moronic. They had to keep Congressional leaders in the loop weekly post-election to communicate that they would not support or aid Trump’s schemes. The CIA always hated him. DOJ is monitoring the flight risk, it’s very convenient that Russia and their oligarch’s assets/funds/planes have been frozen already.

      • Tiffany:) says:

        If he’s indicted but flees…that’s still something happening to him. All of his US properties would probably be seized, he’d be exiled, he’d be under the thumb and at the mercy of more powerful dictators.

      • Truthiness says:

        Exactly Tiffany, seized properties if he runs.

      • notasugarhere says:

        Why would he care? He’s being handed billions in exchange for what he’s done. Losing a handful of failing, bankrupt US properties isn’t going to phase him. I’m thinking of former Spanish king Juan Carlos and the life he’s living in the UAE, in spite of (criminal) financial activities in Spain.

  3. ArtHistorian says:

    When reality is more insane than the political satire of Armando Iannucci.

  4. C-Shell says:

    Christina Bobb is facing some serious prison time. Her best bet at this point is to flip to reduce her sentence. Maybe, LOL. I saw on Twitter that she breaks the record for the shortest time between getting a law license and getting disbarred. I love that for her.

    • Owlsyn (Bibbidity-Bobbity-Unclassifity) says:

      I am wondering if she just took Donald Trump’s word for it that there was nothing else, and, well, that’s what happens when you take Donald Trump’s word for it…..

      • rrabbit says:

        You’d have to be pretty stupid to take Trump’s word for anything. But then you’d have to be pretty stupid to agree to become Trump’s lawyer.

        Imagine working for free for Trump (because he does not pay his bills, not even his lawyers) and then going to prison for him.

      • equality says:

        That’s probably what happened. That was stupid to sign for something on his word. She’s learned a very costly lesson. Looks like he was the one they should have made sign.

      • C-Shell says:

        She’s awfully young, and I saw a pic of her holding an OAN mic* — apparently reporting for propagandists and conspiracy theorists — so also stupid. Maybe she’ll argue that she didn’t have the necessary state of mind to commit obstruction or intend to LIE to the DoJ, but she’s going to through some things.

        *Someone on Twitter this morning, looking at that pic, commented that they thought it was KKKhate Middleton because of the long dark brown hair and the coat. LOL. Then someone replied, “She’s going to miss that coat.”

      • Giddy says:

        Do we know the wording of that statement? Was it “All documents have been returned” or “ My client maintains that all documents have been returned.”” A few words could decide whether Christina Bobb spends the next few years in prison, and is disbarred.

      • Both Sides Now says:

        @ Giidy, the terms of the documentation was that “all WH documents were returned, as well as the requests made by the NARA..”, not verbatim but is close to a statement that every piece of paper, post-it and scrap of notes were returned.

      • Both Sides Now says:

        @ rrabbit, on top of what Rudy is facing, Bobb will certainly go down as well. Anyone who would take him as a client deserves to be charged. On top of the fact that he never pays his attorney fees as well, it must feel like their worst nightmare. But they did it to themselves, given his track record.

  5. Sigmund says:

    Damn, every time I think he can’t sink to a new low, I’m proven wrong. Curious to see if he’ll actually be charged with something. (Though I think if it comes to that, he’ll flee the country.)

  6. OldLady says:

    That carpet is also criminal.

  7. SarahCS says:

    I’m going to ignore the legal side of this for the sake of my sanity and ask?

    What is with that carpet?

    Is that a real Time cover he has framed in the box or another fake one?

  8. FancyPants says:

    And he has lost whatever was left of his limp-noodle mind over on Truth Social in the last 24hrs. It’s like a lab-created example of a malignant narcissist losing all of his defenses and melting down to the toddler on the inside- “why are people so mean?” Whatever happened to his “billion dollar lawyer?” His lawyers all need to resign and try to hire lawyers for themselves.

    • whatWHAT? says:

      as the saying goes…

      MAGA – Making Attorneys Get Attorneys

      • rrabbit says:

        MAGA – My Attorneys Got Arrested

      • Truthiness says:

        There’s another group in Texas using the MAGA acronym – Mothers Against Greg Abbott and they have a hilarious pro-choice ad out. It’s worth watching!!

    • Both Sides Now says:

      @ FancyPants, I read about that!! His own SM platform has been dying a slow and painful death. How wonderful for him!!

  9. TIFFANY says:

    Hillary Diane told us this clown was a threat to National Security.

    Madam Secretary knows of what she speaks.

  10. Lightpurple says:

    And the RNC will no longer pay his legal bills

  11. Michael says:

    What was his objective in taking these things? Did they have incriminating evidence in them? Was he planning to sell them to Russia? Did he copy any of them while he had them? I think any secrets he held onto have been compromised to hell and back so I hope the current administration takes that into account

    • caitlinsmom says:

      He planned to sell the classified info to Putin. Or it was a quid pro quo for paying his debts. It was espionage, pure and simple.

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      The kompromat Putin must have on him must be awful enough that even that idiot knows will destroy him if it gets out. It must make the rumors of his time with Epstein and the Teen/Miss Universe pageants pale in comparison.

    • Lady D says:

      I laughed yesterday when someone here pointed out that the FBI was fingerprinting every page they took from Donald’s house. Should be interesting:)

  12. MsIam says:

    I wonder, can they go after him for whatever Mueller found too? The DOJ didn’t go after him because he was a sitting President but hey, can’t use that excuse now. I just want something to stick and for this guy to go down for a long time. Nature will take its course eventually but I don’t want him free to roam around until then.

    • Michael says:

      Between his weight; age; family history of dementia; and shitty eating habits I am amazed he is still around. Not to mention that he is under enormous stress with this investigation. Also I bet his wife is feeding him cheeseburgers and cheesecake every day to hurry the process along.

      • lucy2 says:

        I’m always amazed by that too. I get stressed at work and feel it physically, I can’t imagine how he’s survived the past few years. Unfortunately.

  13. aquarius64 says:

    I saw the news break last night. As an American I hang my head in shame. Boris and Natasha, the Hamburglar, and a Scooby Doo villain could come to Mar a Lago with a bolt cutter and a camera phone and have a go at the nation’s secrets, and take a selfie on the way out. You know US allies who share intelligence with the CIA, NSA etc are now wondering if their sources and methods have been compromised. Thanks to this overgrown brat/rage monster the United States’ standing in the world is damaged again. DOJ will have to prosecute Orange-zilla; and I think the evidence bears out.

  14. Ariel says:

    A man born into incredible wealth, who has almost never been held accountable- and when the courts, etc do go against him- there is always an excuse.
    He has never been “wrong” in his whole life.
    He has never suffered consequences.
    I hope he dies in a prison jumpsuit for the harm he has done to our country.

    • Both Sides Now says:

      @ Ariel, I am right there with you!! I want nothing more than for him to spend the rest of his life in prison. Drumpf may think he is in the clear, but given what I have been reading the last few days his goose is cooked.

      Melanoma is loving this too!! She will inherit his massive debt but she will have the properties to have to do as she wants. That is the ONLY reason she has stuck with him, besides being as awful as he is as a “human” being. Barton will be taken care of too! You can be certain that Melanoma will not be kind to his other children, if the will is stipulated that he has equally distributed his “wealth” and as his current wife she can easily contest it.

      • tamra says:

        Rumor has it that the reason she didn’t go to Washington at first is because she found out her son was not in the will.She was negotiating for him to be included and I’m sure a redo of the pre-nup. In exchange she probably agreed to stay for a certain period of time, usually 10 years. The properties are probably mortgaged to the hilt. I bet her money is in a trust somewhere just waiting for the clock to strike midnight!

  15. Lucy says:

    It would be funny if it wasn’t so gd dangerous for our country. I think the biggest problem with arresting him right now is it will give the GQP people a focus for their rage and civil war rhetoric. They’ll try to mount rescue raids and other cockamimie stuff the entire time he’s in custody. I do think that because of January 6th, there will be an appropriate level of guards/military prep, but still. Dangerous.

    • Truthiness says:

      The Proud Boy who got close enough to Schumer to make his security whisk him in a different direction just got 4 years. Idiot was already wearing an ankle bracelet broadcasting his whereabouts.

  16. Lizzie Bathory says:

    Unless he dies first, Trump is going to prison for this, though he’ll probably be the last person indicted as the DOJ builds an airtight case. I think his attorneys must have had access/seen these documents as well, which means they are also almost certainly in violation of the Espionage Act. So in addition to losing their licenses, like other attorneys in Trump’s orbit, they’ll be facing prison time.

    • Giddy says:

      Anyone else would certainly go to prison, never to be seen or heard from again. Maybe the DOJ will come up with a unique form of punishment for him. I think the perfect punishment for him would be house arrest at his penthouse with (a fate worse than death) complete banishment from all interviews and internet. And, like all prisoners, no hair dye or make-up.

  17. girl_ninja says:

    It seems as though the racist Fox pundits are trying to move on from him. The RNC aren’t paying his bills and he has no money. I hope this sticks and he truly pays for his crimes. And that attorney Christina Bobb who signed off on all of those STOLEN documents is probably going to prison. Imagine your life being ruined for Donald Trump?

    • Both Sides Now says:

      I see it too. Murdoch won’t even touch his sleazy ass anymore. We saw the tide turn a few months ago. Murdoch knows that he is a lost cause and he is directing his Faux “News” talent to follow his directions.

  18. SIde Eye says:

    He is guilty of high treason, election tampering, rape, and so much more, but he will never go to jail for it. It’s not happening. He’s committed crimes and skated his entire life – why should this be any different?

    He is not smart enough to flee the country.

    He should, however, be terrified, and he should be fleeing. I am here for every moment of that terror. Putin and whoever else already has all of the information they needed to get out of him, and they’ve had this access for months. American informants and spies turning up dead everywhere. It doesn’t take much to connect the dots and figure out there was concrete action already taken on the trade of this information. The FBI has their docs back. This means, Putin no longer has any use for Trump.

    We all know what happens to people in these scenarios when they are no longer useful. I’d be terrified of eating or drinking anything.

    He is a sitting duck. I don’t think he will live much longer and this will never get to trial. My guess is, we will wake up one day to get the news of his “heart attack.”

    • BeanieBean says:

      All throughout his presidential run, every time I heard a BBC News alert on my phone I thought it’d be about trump having died from a heart attack. No such luck. I hope he lives long enough to get tried & convicted.

      • SIde Eye says:

        @BeanieBean – my mom has been calling his heart attack since 2018 but it never went down. She would call me and say “today could be the day. I have a feeling it’s today he doesn’t look right” etc. When he got Covid he looked really bad and I thought holy snap, she’s right! But nope…

        I wish he would get tried and convicted. Damn it I want him to see consequences and to die a miserable death (after a long life) in prison. Alas I just don’t think that is going to happen anymore. He’s advanced in age and in poor health, all the stress of this. Plus his anger. He will delay delay delay a trial. When a presidential run was an option – he could use that as a bargaining chip with the his co-conspirators. But not anymore.

    • Jaded says:

      I’ve no doubt that whomever he shared/sold some of those top secret documents to will now find a way to shut him up. A dose of novachok? A ninja team sneaking into MAL in the dark hours and injecting him with an undetectable poison then onto a boat to be dumped at sea like Robert Maxwell? This is one situation he’s not going to be able to lie, bluff, bluster, blame or deflect his way out of. His Teflon days are over.

  19. Betsy says:

    At this point, I kind of don’t care about this traitor. He did it, he’s guilty, if life were fair and justice actually were blind, he and all his co-conspirators would be tried, convicted and given the death penalty, which is more than what the assets in countries abroad got when Trump undoubtedly got them murdered.

    What I’m curious about is how quiet Ivanka and Jared are. I don’t believe for one second that they’re innocent in this.

    • Feebee says:

      Yes to all of this. The Saudis didn’t give Jared $2 billion for his business savvy.

      • Both Sides Now says:

        Yup!! They are too silent in fact. They had been some of his biggest supporters on networks and SM but they have clamped their traps up. Jared is certainly one who should be investigated as well. There may come a time that he is, along with his wife. They are such vile people and just as criminal as her father is, as well as Jared’s father as well. A marriage made of criminals, how romantic!!

  20. Feebee says:

    I’ve decided to stay hopeful here. I know it’s frustrating to see TFG still at large but the DOJ appears to be meticulously tightening the noose in a way that will be impossible to escape from. Merrick Garland is conducting a master class in meticulousness. Fingers crossed, eh?

    • Both Sides Now says:

      @ Feebee, I am as well!! I know that Garland will take these crimes against American government branches to the finish line.

      Garland is certainly determined to also pursue the actions of those involved with the insurrection as well. Alex Jones has provided a treasure trove of detailed information for all of those that were involved with the insurrection. Jones is getting his bit of justice as well!!!

  21. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    I don’t know how much more I can take. I’m imploding.

  22. BKittyB says:

    I have zero faith in justice in this country. Zero. When there’s a rich white nationalist involved the justice system gets out its kneepads and warm wet towel. I don’t expect anything to happen to him. He’s gotten away with rape, perjury, tax evasion, theft, and now treason. And half of this country STILL supports him. He represents everything ugly about all the isms in society. And he’s going to get away with harming this country worse than any other president. Just watch.

  23. Jeff says:

    It’s becoming clear for all to see, Trump has committed high treason. He was used as an asset by none other that Valdimer Puttin himself! Trump was close associate of Jeffrey Epistine! Trump and others in high places were used as agents , If not they would be exposed for their disgusting crimes aginst children! This is how the K.G.B operates! Trump took what he was told to take and he did! He sold America out! What is difficult to understand? He’s a” TRAITOR”. ITS THAT SIMPLE.

  24. Linney says:

    As a former Republican (who often voted Democrat), I can’t believe these government people are still defending him. You can’t blame that “loyalty” on stupidity or ignorance. They know exactly what he’s done and who he is. And yet…. Yes, I understand they don’t want to “upset their base” and all that crap, but every time I see one of these educated politicians bashing the FBI, Merrick Garland and defending poor little Donnie, I could throw up. I should be used to it by now, but it still gets to me. If I stole a television from a store, I’d be immediately arrested. This guy has gotten away with so much not because he is such a mastermind but because he is so completely enabled by some very intelligent people. Why is there so much evil in the Republican party? I recently heard some congressman (or congressional hopeful) say that the insane Liberals (???) want to ruin the wonderful country we’ve had for over 200 years. (????) I think that’s at the heart of it. Let’s go back to a white, male dominated country. Yes. The good old days.