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Former President Donald Trump was indicted on 37 counts for alleged crimes related to his mishandling of classified documents and is expected in federal court in Florida next week.
According to the unsealed court document, Trump allegedly influenced his attorneys to hide information from the Department of Justice, suggesting they ‘pluck out’ damaging classified documents.
It also reveals a bombshell recounting of a conversation during which Trump showed members of his staff were shown a highly-sensitive military ‘plan of attack’ document given to the former president by a senior military official.
DailyMail.com breaks down some of the most stunning revelations included in the now-public document.
Trump allegedly influenced his attorneys to hide information from DOJ
‘I don’t want anybody looking, I don’t want anybody looking through my boxes, I really don’t, I don’t want you looking through my boxes,’ a conversation by Trump included in the indictment states.
‘Well what if we, what happens if we just don’t respond at all or don’t play ball with them?’ Trump allegedly said, referring to the Department of Justice.
‘Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?’ Trump is alleged to have continued according to the document.
‘Well look isn’t it better if there are no documents.’
Trump allegedly shared details on a military ‘plan of attack’
According to the indictment, Trump stated: ‘Look what I found, this was [the Senior Military Official’s] plan of attack, read it and just show…it’s interesting.’
He also engaged in an exchange regarding the senior military official, admitting that the document he was showing staff was ‘highly confidential.’
Classified documents on ‘Five Eyes’ allied countries spilled out on bathroom floor
According to the indictment, Trump’s alleged co-conspirator Nauta texted a different Trump staffer a picture of documents containing classified information.
‘I opened the door and found this,’ including two photographs of the spilled documents, at least one of which contained classified documents.
The indictment states that the specific documents were related to intelligence between the “Five Eyes” countries.
Those countries represent an ‘intelligence-sharing alliance’ between the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The president suggested his attorneys ‘pluck out’ damaging documents so the FBI couldn’t obtain
The indictment contains a passage recounting a conversation between Trump and one of his attorneys during which Trump ‘made a funny motion as though – well okay why don’t you take them with you to your hotel room and if there’s anything really bad in there, like, you know, pluck it out.’
‘And that was the motion that he made. He didn’t say that,’ the attorney allegedly said in the recount of the conversation.
Trump suggested his lawyers’ hide or destroy’ documents he legally was required to hand over by subpoena
According to the court document, Trump strongly suggested that his lawyer ‘hide or destroy documents’ sought by the Florida grand jury subpoena.
Prosecutors write in the indictment that the former president told his lawyers to tell the DOJ that they ‘didn’t have’ the specific documents that were detailed in the subpoena.
Bathrooms, ballrooms and more: Improper documents storage
Trump stored boxes of classified documents all around his Mar-a-Lago home.
He ‘stored his boxes containing classified documents .. in a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room,’ according to the indictment which contains pictures.
‘From January through March 15, 2021, some of Trump’s boxes were stored in the Mar-a-Lago Club’s White and Gold Ballroom, in which events and gatherings took place. Trump’s boxes were for a time stacked on the ballroom’s stage,’ the indictment states.
Nature of the seized documents
According to the indictment, FBI agents seized a total of 75 documents from Mar-a-Lago last August.
There were 11 were marked ‘Top Secret,’ 36 with ‘Secret’ markings and 28 were labeled as ‘Confidential.’
Trump’s alleged co-conspirator Walt Nauta lied to the FBI
The indictment states that Trump’s White House aide Walt Nauta falsely stated to the FBI in a May 2022 interview that he was not aware of Trump’s boxes of classified documents.
When asked directly about whether he knew where Trump’s boxes were stored, Nauta replied: ‘I wish, I wish I could tell you. I don’t know. I don’t – I honestly just don’t know.’
The indictment goes on to state that Nauta removed ‘approximately 64 boxes’ from the storage room to Trump’s residence.
Nauta ‘did in fact know that the boxed in Pine Hall had come from the Storage Room, as Nauta himself, with the assistance of Trump Employee 2, had moved the boxes from the Storage Room to Pine hall,’ the indictment states.
‘Nauta had observed the boxed in and moved them to various locations at the Mar-a-Lago Club,’ it continues.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
