Donald Trump’s classified documents scandal just got even uglier
With DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith having reportedly gotten three of Donald Trump’s own attorneys to testify against him to a grand jury last month, it’s clear that Trump’s classified documents scandal is being treated as a criminal case, and that Trump is the target. Now the whole thing is getting even uglier.
After the DOJ had the FBI search Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and remove all the classified documents that Trump and his attorneys swore weren’t there to begin with, it turns out a Trump aide brought a box of additional classified documents to Mar-a-Lago. According to the Guardian, the box had previously been at a Trump-leased office elsewhere in Palm Beach. This is problematic on a number of levels.
First, why did a Trump aide have classified documents at some private Trump office to begin with? And after the FBI search and seizure at Mar-a-Lago made national headlines, how could anyone have thought it was okay to then bring additional classified documents into Mar-a-Lago?
We’ll see if this comes down to actual malice or extreme negligence. The Special Counsel investigation will have to determine as much. But the bigger story here may be that this was uncovered at all. Someone – either this aide, or someone else – had to have told the Special Counsel about this box of documents. This points to even more widespread Special Counsel cooperation among Donald Trump’s people. And that’s bad news for Trump, because he’s clearly the criminal target.
