Fox News released exclusive information regarding more details about the documents taken from President Trump’s home, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida. Last Monday, over thirty FBI agents entered the estate of the former president while he was away in New Jersey and removed at least twenty boxes of documents, including a binder of photos and handwritten notes.
Now, sources are telling Fox News that some of those documents that are considered to be classified may be protected under attorney-client privilege.
It is also possible, according to the sources, that the material may also be protected under executive privilege.
On Saturday, Fox News learned via these sources, who are said to be familiar with the investigation, that boxes labeled “A-14, A-26, A-43, A-13, A-33” as well as a set of documents contain information that is protected from seizure under attorney client privilege. These boxes are all listed on the property receipt inventory list made public on Friday afternoon.
These same individuals told Fox News that “some records may be covered by executive privilege,” which gives the president as well as some other officials in the executive branch of government the “authority to withhold certain sensitive forms of advice and consultation between the president and senior advisors.”
What the sources did not know is exactly what attorney-client privilege would be constituted – these documents may be communications between the former president and his personal attorneys, or it could be between Trump and White House counsel. The sources inferred that the seized documents could be a mixture of both.
Trump’s legal team has asked for an independent review by a third party to review the records in light of the attorney-client privilege nature of the document. However, the sources revealed that the Department of Justice has notified the Trump legal team that they oppose that type of request.
Fox News reached out to both the Department of Justice and the FBI for a comment on the sources’ information; they also reached out to the Trump family – none of the parties involved would comment on the status of the documents nor the request for a third-party review.
Trump’s office had received a grand jury subpoena in spring 2022 to return classified documents that he allegedly took from the Oval Office in 2021. The former president had done so, turning over at least fifteen boxes of material to the FBI. The subpoena from this spring was “related to materials that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) was trying to collect after claiming Trump improperly took those classified records.” The Donald Trump camp has been cooperating with NARA for a year in order to return records they deemed necessary.
On June 3, 2022, FBI investigators went to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve those documents requested in the spring. Trump complied. While the team was there, they asked to see where the records were stored. Trump complied with this request as well, and, when the investigators asked him to place a second lock on the storage room where the records were, Trump complied.
Rumors abound that an informant told the FBI that there was still sensitive material at Mar-a-Lago, which prompted the raid last Monday. This rumor has not been confirmed, but it has certainly sparked conversation on social media. While political pundits believe a Secret Service agent may have been the “informant,” some on social media have speculated it could be a member of the Trump family. Of course, as with all sensational stories, this rumor might not even be remotely true.
Trump has said numerous times that he is more than happy to be compliant with the Presidential Records Act, but the unsealed court documents show that the FBI is investigating possible violations of the Espionage Act.
Fox’ source pondered whether Judge Bruce Reinhart knew that Trump had been compliant with the subpoena from the spring. Until the affidavit associated with the warrant is unsealed – if it is unsealed, we may not know.
