From February 7, 2022: Trump Presidential Records at Mar a Lago.

[Solly Mack]

"In mid-January 2022, NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) arranged for the transport from the Trump Mar-a-Lago property in Florida to the National Archives of 15 boxes that contained Presidential records, following discussions with President Trump’s representatives in 2021," the National Archives said in a statement, confirming a report in The Washington Post.


“The Presidential Records Act mandates that all Presidential records must be properly preserved by each Administration so that a complete set of Presidential records is transferred to the National Archives at the end of the Administration,” Archivist David S. Ferriero said in the statement, adding that the National Archives “pursues the return of records whenever we learn that records have been improperly removed or have not been appropriately transferred to official accounts.”


The records agency said it believes Trump still has more records that need to be turned over and that "Trump’s representatives have informed NARA that they are continuing to search for additional Presidential records that belong to the National Archives."

The agency revealed last week that Trump had torn up numerous documents when he was president that were supposed to have been preserved.

February 9, 2022

The National Archives and Records Administration has asked the Justice Department to examine Donald Trump’s handling of White House records, sparking discussions among federal law enforcement officials about whether they should investigate the former president for a possible crime, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The referral from the National Archives came amid recent revelations that officials recovered 15 boxes of materials from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida that were not handed back in to the government as they should have been, and that Trump had turned over other White House records that had been torn up. Archives officials suspected Trump had possibly violated laws concerning the handling of government documents — including those that might be considered classified — and reached out to the Justice Department, the people familiar with the matter said.

February 10, 2022

Donald Trump's months-long withholding of presidential documents from the National Archives – he stored up to 15 boxes at his Mar-a-Lago estate for nearly a year – could spark yet another investigation of the ex-president.

The National Archives and Records Administration is being pushed to investigate whether Trump improperly took classified information with him when he moved out of the White House on Jan. 20, 2021. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has requested information related to the probe.

February 12, 2022

One source familiar with the situation says the document turnover has “not been fully resolved” and says Trump is still in possession of documents the Archives wants. The Archives hinted at this in a statement earlier this week.

“Former President Trump’s representatives have informed NARA that they are continuing to search for additional Presidential records that belong to the National Archives,” the Archives said in a statement.

February 18, 2022

The US National Archives confirmed on Friday that officials found classified materials in boxes of documents Donald Trump improperly removed from the White House – and that they had alerted the Department of Justice (DoJ).


The disclosure is expected to escalate an investigation by the House oversight committee into whether Trump violated the Presidential Records Act of 1978 by removing and destroying White House documents.

In a letter to the committee, David Ferriero, of the National Archives and Records Administration (Nara), said it had “identified items marked as classified national security information in the boxes”.

“Because Nara identified classified information in the boxes,” he wrote, “Nara staff has been in communication with the Department of Justice.”

The National Archives said Friday that documents former President Donald Trump removed from the White House in early 2021 included classified national security information and that it has contacted the Department of Justice about the matter.

The agency "has identified items marked as classified national security information within the boxes" that Trump stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. Fla., the National Archives and Records Administration said in a letter to Rep, Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.

Then: August 8, 2022

FBI executes search warrant at Trump's Mar-a-Lago in document investigation




Obviously, Trump did not turn over everything and the stalling was no longer tolerable. Hence, the search warrant being served and executed.

[Novara]

1. It wasn't a raid

They didn't kick the door down and put everybody in handcuffs while they searched.

It was a well-executed, orderly search warrant.

Remember that a search warrant of this type is specific. In other words, they had a pretty good idea where to look and knew what to look for. Legal experts have said this isn't just to retrieve documents he wouldn't turn over, that fresh evidence of an ongoing crime likely precipitated this search warrant. To me, that implies that someone on the inside is talking, and this matter was pretty urgent.

It looks like this could be really, really huge.

[Solly Mack]

2. True. It wasn't a raid.

I also think something more is going on, but I also don't think it was unexpected. I think they learned something that prompted them to stop waiting for Trump and his lawyers to act.

But I don't know. I'm waiting to see how this plays out.

[Novara]

3. I agree

I think that the entire lot of the criminal cabal has been holding their breath, knowing something like this was going to happen eventually.

[louis-t]

4. Hopefully, they found more than his porn stash.

[Solly Mack]

5. Ick