After a special master was appointed to review the White House documents that former President Donald Trump brought back with him to Mar-A-Lago, this is what we know so far.
The Mar-a-Lago resort is owned by former President Donald Trump.
The Justice Department is looking into whether Trump violated three federal statutes when he brought White House materials with him to Mar-A-Lago instead of turning them over to the National Archives.
In January, Trump voluntarily turned over 15 boxes of documents to the National Archives, and the DOJ opened an investigation in February after finding classified materials were brought back to Mar-A-Lago.
According to the Washington Post, Trump brought thousands of documents with him to Mar-A-Lago, some of which had the most top- secret designation.
There is evidence that Trump and his team "concealed and removed" documents from a storage room at Mar-A-Lago, which could be seen as obstruction of the investigation.
The Espionage Act, which deals with the improper handling of government and national security documents, is one of the federal statutes that the DOJ is investigating.
Trump denied any wrongdoing, railed against the DOJ's investigation, and asked a federal judge in Florida to appoint a third-party special master to review the seized documents.
In response to more calls for transparency, the DOJ released the search warrant it used to search Mar-A-Lago and a redacted version of the affidavit used to get it.
Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, sided with the ex-president and granted a special master to review the seized documents to make sure they don't violate attorney-client or executive privilege.
Cannon appointed a former federal district Judge, Raymond Dearie, to serve as the special master and refused a request from the Justice Department to exclude around 100 classified documents from the review.
More than 10, 000. There were 11,179 non-classified materials, 103 documents that had classified markings, and 48 empty folders that were labeled "classified" when the DOJ seized them at Mar-A-Lago. 27 classified documents were found in Trump's office, despite the DOJ asking Trump's attorneys to keep them in a secure storage room. In January, Trump voluntarily turned over 15 boxes of documents to the National Archives and in June, his attorneys gave 38 documents with classified markings to federal prosecutors.
Cannon's ruling allowing Dearie to review classified documents is expected to be appealed by the DOJ. While the order blocks the DOJ from using the White House materials in its criminal investigation, the agency is still allowed to investigate the documents stored at Mar-A-Lago as long as their actions don't involve. Cannon has allowed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to continue reviewing documents as part of its investigation into whether keeping the documents at Mar-A-Lago posed a national security risk, despite the DOJ's argument that it would be difficult for that probe to move forward while the criminal investigation
There are more documents that Trump has yet to turn over. The National Archives was asked by the House Oversight Committee to conduct a review of materials to determine if White House materials are still missing. There is no evidence to support the idea that the former president could have brought White House documents with him to other properties.
The DOJ can't say that documents with classified markings are actually classified because Trump could have changed them. Legal experts say it is unlikely that Trump could have declassified documents without following proper protocols. Even if Trump did declassify materials, it might still not have an effect on him facing criminal charges as the federal statutes he is being investigated under apply to the mishandling of government documents or materials that implicate national security.
The Mar-A-Lago documents investigation is one of a number of threats against Trump. The January 6 attack on the Capitol Building and Trump and his allies efforts to overturn the 2020 election are being investigated by the Justice Department. The district attorney's office in Fulton County, Georgia, is conducting an investigation into Trump's post election efforts in the state, including a call he had with the Secretary of State. The New York Attorney General is leading civil and criminal probes into alleged financial wrongdoing at the Trump Organization, which may result in Trump being sued, and the criminal investigation is being undertaken alongside a separate ongoing probe from the Manhattan district attorney's office. The Trump Organization will be going to trial in October on charges of tax fraud.
The judge in the Mar- A-Lago case rejected the DOJ's request to exclude classified documents.
The FBI found something at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
There are documents about Trump and the Mar-a-Lago resort.
Tracking Trump is a rundown of all the lawsuits and investigations involving the former president.
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