The former president is suspected of negligence in managing presidential documents, particularly those classified as “secret defence,” even attempting to clear the air before leaving the White House.
Searching the property of a former President of the United States is a rare occurrence. But that’s exactly what happened to Donald Trump on Monday at his famous Florida residence Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. A fact so unusual that such a search warrant would require the approval of a federal judge or even the Attorney General. In order to trigger such an operation, it is therefore necessary for the judiciary to consider the existence of a criminal offense to be probable and the search to enable evidence to be collected.
This search shows the extent of Donald Trump’s troubles with the law. The former president is the target of two investigations in particular: one concerns the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and the other the case of the unreturned presidential archives. If the FBI has not disclosed the motives behind this search, it is this latest investigation that the American media puts forward to explain the police officers’ visit.
Negligence in the management of Presidential documents
When a President leaves the White House, he may not take with him any official documents related to the performance of his functions. This is set out in a 1978 law introduced after the Watergate scandal-torn Nixon presidency. The Presidential Records Act requires that all of his emails, letters, memos, and other working documents be sent to the National Archives, a federal agency responsible for their preservation.
A precaution Donald Trump failed to take. He is suspected of negligence in managing presidential documents, particularly those classified as “secret defence”, even attempting to clear the air before leaving.
“The Presidential Records Act is essential to our democracy, where government is held accountable by the people,” archivist David Ferriero said in a February statement reported by The Washington Post.
Keeping such documents is a “Federal Crime”
Last January, after a year of insistence, the National Archives recovered from Mar-a-Lago fifteen boxes of documents Donald Trump should never have taken straight from the White House.
Inside those boxes were letters from Barack Obama and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, along with many other documents, but also several documents classified as “secret defense,” according to The Washington Post. The National Archives then requested the opening of an investigation.
Keeping such documents constitutes a “federal crime,” as Elie Honig, a former federal prosecutor for CNN, has pointed out. In addition, the preservation of these archives in Mar-a-Lago poses a security problem, the investigators remind, especially for the secret ones.
“Presidents have a solemn duty to protect the national security of the United States, and allegations that former President Trump has compromised our security through misuse of classified information warrant the utmost scrutiny,” said CNN Democratic Representative Carolyn Maloney .
Look for more archives
According to American media, the FBI had to “make sure nothing was forgotten” during Monday’s search. A handful of investigators had already traveled to Mar-a-Lago in early June to obtain more information on documents that may have been classified as “secret defence”.
During the seizure of the fifteen boxes, archivist David Ferriero said in a statement that Trump’s representatives “continue to search for additional records.”
“They even broke into my safe!” Donald Trump said in a statement Monday.
His attorney, Christina Bobb claimed that The FBI had seized documents during the search that focused on Donald Trump’s offices and personal quarters at the residence.
Documents torn or flushed down the toilet
The National Archives had also revealed that the former director had a habit of tearing up some of his working documents, another practice that violated the 1978 Act. Many archives were indeed submitted in poor condition: torn papers, some “reattached with tape” by White House administrators, others left in pieces.
Indeed, back in 2018, the Politico site reported how White House staffers made up for the president’s shortcomings by ripping working documents into four pieces, carefully gluing them together, and archiving them.
In a book to be published next October, a journalist for the New York Times also asserts that White House officials have regularly found bundles of papers blocking the toilets, suspecting Donald Trump of wanting to get rid of certain documents.
An Echo of the Capitol Invasion Inquiry?
“Having worked and cooperated with appropriate government agencies, this unannounced search of my home was neither necessary nor appropriate,” Donald Trump said Monday.
The announcement of the search did not go unnoticed by the outrage in the ranks of the Republicans.
This new twist in the former President’s legal saga also reflects the other investigations he faces: his responsibility for the invasion of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and the possible disappearance or deterioration of certain official documents related to that case.