Donald Trump seems to love creating trouble for himself that he could avoid – but never seems to do so: A former lawyer for Donald Trump recalls warning that the FBI would search Mar-a-Lago if the former president did not comply with a grand jury subpoena regarding the classified documents he allegedly held onto after leaving office.
Donald Trump claims that he issued a standing declassification order before leaving the White House that allowed him to hold onto over 100 highly classified documents. However, the former White House Chief of Staff told federal investigators that he had no such recollection. Former Vice President Mike Pence similarly told ABC News he has no memory of anything like that happening.
Donald Trump Admitted He Did Not Declassify Documents
Then Trump was reportedly caught on audio in July 2021 bragging about how he had war plans about Iran that he held onto that he had not declassified before leaving office.
“This was done by the military and given to me,” Trump said, before noting that the document he was showing a book author remained classified. “See as president I could have declassified it … Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.”
Such information helps the government’s case.
Evan Corcoran kept audio notes of his meetings with Trump. He recalled in one such note “he’s just going to go ballistic,” regarding the former president’s desire to comply with the subpoena.
“Well, there’s a prospect that they could go to a judge and get a search warrant, and that they could arrive here,” Corcoran recalled warning Trump as they sat at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump allegedly said repeatedly that it would be better if they did not cooperate. According to reports, he had employees Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira remove boxes from a storage room at Mar-a-Lago before the FBI could find them.
Corcoran Forced to Testify Against Donald Trump
Corcoran was forced to testify to the grand jury after a federal judge used a statute normally aimed at organized crime figures to compel him to testify against Trump. It was previously disclosed that Trump had his employees move boxes from a storage area on the property before the FBI made its first visit to Mar-a-Lago in June 2021.
Trump has adopted a Nixonian view. “When the president does it then it is not illegal,” Nixon said during his 1976 interview with British journalist David Frost.
Trump and Nixon developed a friendship during the 1980s that cemented a connection between the former and future presidents, so who knows what Nixon taught Trump. Trump said Nixon wanted him to run for office.
“The attorney-client privilege is one of the oldest and most fundamental principles in our legal system, and its primary purpose is to promote the rule of law. Whether attorneys’ notes are detailed or not makes no difference — these notes reflect the legal opinions and thoughts of the lawyer, not the client,” Trump campaign spokesman Stephen Cheung told ABC News.
Trump complained that the FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago was a “break-in” at his home. However, he stubbornly held onto the documents and triggered the raid.
Trump could face further jeopardy now that Mar-a-Lago IT worker Yuscil Taveras has agreed to testify against his former boss.
Author Expertise
John Rossomando is a defense and counterterrorism analyst and served as Senior Analyst for Counterterrorism at The Investigative Project on Terrorism for eight years. His work has been featured in numerous publications such as The American Thinker, The National Interest, National Review Online, Daily Wire, Red Alert Politics, CNSNews.com, The Daily Caller, Human Events, Newsmax, The American Spectator, TownHall.com, and Crisis Magazine. He also served as senior managing editor of The Bulletin, a 100,000-circulation daily newspaper in Philadelphia, and received the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors first-place award for his reporting.
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