WASHINGTON − The Department of Justice’s long-running investigation into the classified documents found at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home came to an end Thursday with an indictment filed in Federal District Court in Miami.
Federal agents had seized hundreds of classified records in August of last year from Trump’s property in Palm Beach, Florida, following allegations that the former president took classified records from the White House after leaving office. Trump has denounced the investigation saying he was entitled to take the records.
According to the Presidential Records Act, all documents from the end of Trump’s tenure in the White House − which are considered part of federal property − should be transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration.
Here’s a timeline of the movement of the classified documents from the White House to Mar-a-Lago:
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Jan. 14, 2021 – Leaving the White House
Movers are photographed wheeling boxes outside of the White House and loading moving trucks six days before Trump’s last day in office.
Jan. 18, 2021 – Moving trucks spotted in Florida
CBS Miami reports at least two moving trucks arrive at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
Jan. 20, 2021- Trump heads to Mar-a-Lago
Trump leaves the White House and travels to Mar-a-Lago. White House aides are spotted carrying boxes onto Marine One before Trump departs the White House for the last time.
May 6, 2021 – Archives notices items missing
The National Archives discovers documents are missing from the items received from the Trump administration when he left office. It requests the records from Trump, writing in an email: “There are also now certain paper/textual records that we cannot account for. We therefore need your immediate assistance to ensure that NARA receives all Presidential records as required by the Presidential Records Act.”
The email, from the archives General Counsel Gary Stern, cites specific missing documents, including correspondence between Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un, the letter that former President Barack Obama left for Trump on his first day in office and two dozen boxes of original presidential records stored in the residence of the White House.
January 2022 – Trump returns 15 boxes of records
Trump’s team returns 15 boxes of documents stored at the Mar-a-Lago estate to the National Archives for review. The archives found 14 of the 15 boxes contained classified materials.
The documents include correspondence with the North Korean leader that Trump described as “love letters” and the letter from Obama.
The boxes also include 184 unique documents bearing classification markings including 67 documents marked “confidential,” 92 documents marked “secret,” and 25 documents marked “top secret.”
Jan. 31, 2022 – Archives finds torn-up records
Archives releases a statement saying some of the documents received had been torn up by the former president.
“As has been reported in the press since 2018, White House records management officials during the Trump Administration recovered and taped together some of the torn-up records,” according to the agency’s statement. “These were turned over to the National Archives at the end of the Trump Administration, along with a number of torn-up records that had not been reconstructed by the White House.”
Feb. 7, 2022 – 15 boxes of records return to D.C.
Archives releases a statement saying the administration arranged for the transport of 15 boxes of presidential records from Mar-a-Lago to the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
Feb. 18, 2022 – DOJ gets involved
The National Archives contacts the Department of Justice related to classified materials found in the 15 boxes.
David Ferriero, the national archivist, writes in a letter: “Because NARA identified classified information in the boxes, NARA staff has been in communication with the Department of Justice.”
May 2022 – Documents ‘dress rehearsal’
Trump and his aides hold a “dress rehearsal” for moving sensitive documents before his office, The Washington Post reported, citing multiple unidentified people familiar with the matter.
June 2, 2022 – Trump valet moves documents
A Mar-a-Lago worker, who has not been publicly identified, sees Trump’s White House valet, Walt Nauta, move boxes into a storage room, according to the The New York Times which cited an unidentified source.
The worker helps Nauta move some of the boxes, but told federal prosecutor he didn’t know what was inside, according to The Times.
June 3, 2022 – Justice Department receives records
The Justice Department receives an envelope from a Trump attorney at Mar-a-Lago with 38 documents − 17 marked top secret, 16 marked secret and five marked confidential.
DOJ also receives a signed certification from Trump attorney Christina Bobb attesting that there was a “diligent search” and no more classified documents were found at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump records investigation:From early red flags to the search at Mar-a-Lago
Aug. 8, 2022 – DOJ searches Mar-a-Lago
The Justice Department searches Mar-a-Lago for additional documents.
FBI agents find more than 100 classified documents and 20 boxes of items from the Palm Beach estate that included 11 sets of classified documents.
Some documents are marked top secret, including one set deemed “Various classified/TS/SCI documents,” an abbreviation for “top secret/sensitive compartmented information.”
September 2022 – FBI finds more than 11,000 government documents
FBI agents seize more than 11,000 government documents and photographs in the Mar-a-Lago raid in addition to hundreds of classified records.
Other items found in the search include:
- 31 confidential documents, 54 “secret” documents and 18 “top secret.”
- 48 empty folders with classified banners
- 42 folders marked “return to staff secretary/military aide”
- More than 11,000 government documents or pictures without classification markings
- Nearly 1,700 magazines, newspapers or press clippings
- 19 articles of clothing or gift items
- 33 books
