Donald Trump told an aide to deny any knowledge of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, according to a report Tuesday.
Molly Michael began working for Trump in the White House in 2018 and remained his assistant after his departure.
She resigned last year over his alleged refusal to return documents he took from the White House and has since testified before the Jan. 6 committee.
On Tuesday, ABC News reported that she told investigators looking into Trump’s handling of classified documents that he tried to silence her.
After Trump heard last year that the FBI wanted to interview Michael, sources told ABC that Trump allegedly told her, “You don’t know anything about the boxes.”
Molly Michael also testified before the House committee on January 6 about note cards
Michael (left) is seen with Johnny McEntee, former director of the Presidential Personnel Office, on May 1, 2020
Stacks of boxes containing secret documents are pictured at Mar-a-Lago
Documents were stored in the bathrooms – with so many boxes, they even piled up in the bathtub
Michael has become increasingly concerned about Trump’s response to the National Archives’ repeated requests to return the classified documents he took with him, the sources said.
She felt there were many people around Mar-a-Lago who could “easily” refute his public statements that all documents had been returned.
Michael even told Trump that many people, including maintenance workers, had seen the boxes at Mar-a-Lago and knew there were many more than the 15 he claimed.
And she told investigators, according to ABC sources, that Trump knew full well that there were classified documents in the boxes because he was familiar with their contents and had been shown a photo of a storage room containing all of the roughly 90 boxes .
The indictment against Trump for mishandling classified documents and refusing to return them alleges that Trump asked one of his lawyers at the time, “Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?”
Last June, Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran oversaw a search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and turned over 38 documents to the FBI. He signed a statement confirming that the subpoena for the documents had been fully complied with.
But officials didn’t believe Trump was being honest with them and launched an unannounced search of the property in August, during which another 102 papers were found.
Michael told investigators there were more.
Donald Trump is seen in Miami on June 13 after being indicted on federal charges related to the documents
Michael stopped working for Trump last year, some time after the August raid at Mar-a-Lago
Documents were kept throughout Mar-a-Lago, including in the ballroom
Some of the boxes of documents had fallen to the floor inside Mar-a-Lago
She said she returned to work after the raid – she had not been in her office at the time – and found her desk in disarray. She noticed that to-do lists that Trump had prepared for her were still buried under papers.
The to-do lists were scribbled on the backs of documents with classified notes, she said.
Michael has not commented on the ABC report.
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, said the ABC report came from “illegal leaks” of the investigation and lacked “proper context.”
Cheung said the Justice Department needed to urgently investigate the leaks.
“These illegal leaks come from sources that completely lack proper context and relevant information,” he said.
“The Justice Department should investigate the criminal revelations instead of conducting their baseless witch hunts.”