Authorities also believed the documents remaining at Mar-a-Lago had national security implications, CNN reported earlier this week.
The subpoena issued before the June meeting, during which investigators were shown where documents were held in a basement room at the Trump residence and private club, shows how the investigation has escalated and suggests the discussions had become confrontational long before Monday’s search.
The criminal investigation started with concerns about missing documents raised by the National Archives, which made a criminal referral to the Justice Department. That led to FBI interviews with aides to grand jury subpoenas to this week’s court-authorized search and seizure of documents.
In response to questions about the grand jury subpoena, Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich said in a statement to CNN: “Monday’s unprecedented and absolutely unnecessary raid of President Trump’s home was only the latest and most egregious action of hostility by the Biden Administration, whose Justice Department has been weaponized to harass President Trump, his supporters and his staff.”
Earlier this spring, federal investigators began interviewing members of Trump’s staff at Mar-a-Lago and former White House officials who were involved in moving documents from the West Wing to his Palm Beach residence at the end of his presidency, according to three people familiar with those interviews.
In addition to the grand jury subpoena for documents, CNN previously reported that federal investigators separately served a subpoena for surveillance video at Mar-a-Lago, seeking to gather information about who had access to areas where documents were stored, according to people briefed on the matter. The subpoena served to the Trump Organization, the former President’s company that operates the Palm Beach property, came after the June meeting.
CNN previously reported that federal investigators visited Mar-a-Lago in June to discuss White House records they believed were still being held at the Palm Beach property with the former President and his attorneys.
Trump was present at the beginning of the meeting to greet investigators but did not stay to answer questions. During the meeting, Trump’s attorneys showed the investigators documents — some of them had markings indicating they were classified. The agents were given custody of the documents that were marked top secret or higher, according to a person familiar with the matter.
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