The FBI raids and seizes Donald Trump’s mansion in the resort town of MaraLago
Federal prosecutors have informed former US President Donald Trump that investigations are ongoing into him for taking confidential documents after he left office.
- Share this news via WhatsApp
- Share this news via Telegram
Two news outlets leaked this information, ABC News and website Politico (the latter claims prosecutors sent a letter to Trump saying he was under investigation).
Normally, the Department of Justice notifies people when they are under investigation so that they can gather their own evidence that could prove their innocence if the case goes ahead. However, this does not necessarily mean that a criminal charge will be filed.
1 of 1 pages of the document that enabled the FBI to take action at Donald Trump’s home in MaraLago Photo: Jim Bourg/Portal Pages of the document that enabled the FBI to take action at Donald Trump’s home in Mara take action Lago Photo: Jim Bourg/Portal
The notification to Trump’s legal team came two days after Trump’s lawyers met with Justice Department officials to discuss the case.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and his attorneys have not yet commented on the case.
- Documents Seized by FBI at Trump’s Home Contain Information on Iran and China: Report
- Documents Trump took from the White House are secret, the newspaper said
Consider the case of the documents
In August 2022, investigators seized about 13,000 documents at one of Donald Trump’s homes in MaraLago, Florida. One hundred of these were marked as confidential, although one of Trump’s lawyers has claimed in the past that all the notes marked as classified had been returned to the government.
Trump has already defended the withholding of the documents, claiming he declassified the documents while he was president. However, Trump has never presented any evidence that he actually released the documents, and lawyers have not even made that argument in court.
Other investigations
A second criminal investigation is looking into alleged efforts by Trump and his allies to reverse his 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.
Trump is the front runner in the 2024 Republican presidential race and will replace Biden.
Trump is the first incumbent or former US President to face criminal prosecution. In April, before his 2016 election, he pleaded not guilty to charges brought against him by the Manhattan District Attorney for falsifying business records related to withholding payments to a porn star.