Trump lawyer in June said classified material had been returned -NY Times
Reuters
Published Aug 13, 2022 01:25PM ET
Updated Aug 13, 2022 04:20PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A lawyer for former U.S. President Donald Trump signed a statement in June that said all classified material held in boxes at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence had been returned to the government, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
The statement was signed after Jay Bratt, a top national security official in the U.S. Department of Justice, visited Trump's South Florida beach club on June 3, the New York Times reported. Bratt met with two Trump lawyers to discuss the handling of classified information during the visit, the newspaper said.
Trump is under federal investigation for possible violations of the Espionage Act, which makes it unlawful to spy for another country or mishandle U.S. defense information, including sharing it with people not authorized to receive it, a search warrant made public on Friday showed.
FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago this week and removed 11 sets of classified documents including some marked as top secret, according to the Justice Department.
The existence of the Trump attorney statement suggests that Trump and his team may not have fully disclosed information about classified documents in the former president's residence, the Times reported.
Reuters was not able to independently confirm the report. The Justice Department declined to comment.
Taylor Budowich, a Trump spokesperson, criticized the FBI search in a statement as an "unprecedented and unnecessary raid" that was part of another "Democrat-fabricated witch hunt."
Budowich did not confirm or deny the New York Times report.
The chairs of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee and the Committee on Oversight and Reform on Saturday asked the director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, to review what damage may have been done to national security by Trump's having the highly classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
"Former President Trump's conduct has potentially put our national security at grave risk. This issue demands a full review, in addition to the ongoing law enforcement inquiry," the two committee chairs, both Democrats, said in a three-page letter, which they publicly released.
Representative Carolyn Maloney is chair of the Oversight Committee, and Representative Adam Schiff is chair of the Intelligence Committee.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.