In new reporting from the New York Times, at least one of former President Donald Trump’s lawyers signed a written statement in June for the Department of Justice, claiming that all classified material held at Mar-a-Lago had been returned, which has proven to be inaccurate after Monday’s FBI search and seizure.

On Friday, the search warrant and inventory list from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate raid were released, after Attorney General Merrick Garland filed a motion to unseal the information. The former president’s team complied, only after the documents were released to Trump-friendly outlets first.

Trump finds himself under investigation for crimes involving the Espionage Act, among other charges, according to the search warrant. He may not be the only one in trouble.

CNN’s Katelyn Polantz confirmed the NYT reporting on Saturday, that a lawyer for the former president signed a letter in June attesting that all classified records and information had been returned. The existence of this signed statement that was uncovered on Saturday, potentially demonstrates that the Trump team was not completely honest or forthcoming with the Department of Justice about the storage of government material.

This occurred around the time that “Justice Department officials came down to Mar-a-Lago,” in an attempt to recover government documents being held at the estate. From the June visit, officials returned with additional documents marked classified, which was shortly followed by the written declaration from the lawyer claiming that all sensitive material had been returned.

The reporter noted that a subpoena was issued by the DOJ in an effort to reclaim any other material that was being stored at Trump’s home, prior to Monday’s raid. Additionally, there “has been a witness that has been informing,” about the existence of the documents that have since been seized and were conveniently left out of the signed statement.

Ultimately, not only Trump “could be under investigation here, but there could be others as well,” referencing the lawyer who signed the DOJ statement “who could have some criminal exposure.”

According to NYT Maggie Haberman, this signed statement could be a potential cause for the inclusion of the obstruction statute on the search warrant.

NEW: At least one lawyer for Trump signed a written statement for the Justice Department asserting all docs with classified markings in the boxes had been returned after a June 3 meeting, which could explain why “obstruction” statute was listed on warrant https://t.co/JKTTvk2a5H

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 13, 2022

Watch above via CNN

The post Trump Lawyer Falsely Assured DOJ in June All Classified Documents at Mar-a-Lago Had Been Returned – NYT first appeared on Mediaite.

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