An employee of former President Trump said the former president personally instructed workers in moving boxes of documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Fla., according to a new report from The Washington Post.
The employee witness, who was not identified, told FBI agents that Trump directed his people to move boxes to his residence after a May subpoena from the government requested any remaining classified documents, the Post reported. Security footage allegedly confirmed that account.
The witness reportedly first denied handling such documents, but switched stories in a second interview with federal agents, admitting to handling boxes of documents at Trump’s behest.
The revelation is the latest development in the ongoing investigation into the former president’s treatment of classified materials and, since the report suggests Trump directed the documents to be moved after the government issued its subpoena, it could shore up arguments that Trump failed or refused to comply with the government’s requests for the documents.
Months after the government subpoenaed Trump in search of the documents believed to remain in his possession, FBI agents in August executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago and uncovered more than 100 classified documents and dozens of empty folders marked as classified, taken from the White House.
The former president has offered up varying defenses for how the documents came to kept at the Palm Beach, Fla., resort after the end of Trump’s time in office, including claims that he declassified the materials, though his attorneys have not gone so far in their legal arguments.
The discovery of the classified documents at the former president’s home has heightened national security concerns, as some of the materials included high-level secrets and intel. Agents conducting the Mar-a-Lago search were reportedly looking for classified documents on nuclear weapons among the materials, according to the Post.
A new report from The New York Times last week suggests Trump may still be in possession of classified documents even as the Justice Department battles with Trump in court over the review of the materials.
The Hill has reached out to Trump for comment.