The Trump Organization manages Mar-a-Lago as well as Trump’s other properties, including the security systems. One focus of the classified-documents investigation has been surveillance video from Mar-a-Lago, which federal investigators subpoenaed and showed workers moving boxes in and out of the storage area where documents with classified markings were kept.
The Washington Post reported in May that authorities were examining events in mid-July 2022 involving the subpoena for footage from security cameras on the property. Around that time, Trump employees allegedly had conversations about how the cameras worked and how long images remained stored in the system, a person familiar with that aspect of the investigation said this spring.
The employees were later interviewed by investigators, people familiar with the situation have said.
The surveillance footage provided key information in the 38-count indictment against Trump and his longtime aide, Waltine “Walt” Nauta, which alleges the former president took documents from the White House to his Florida home that contained the country’s most protected secrets. With Nauta’s help, the indictment says, Trump intentionally tried to hide the materials from federal officials when they sought to get them back.
Nauta, according to court documents, was caught on video moving boxes before and after he was questioned by the FBI.
Both Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
The target letter, which was first reported by ABC, involves an additional potential defendant, indicating the investigation — which has involved grand jury activity in both Washington and South Florida — remains active. A spokesman for Smith declined to comment Friday.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith to oversee both the criminal probe of Trump’s possible mishandling of classified documents and a separate investigation into efforts by Trump and his allies to undo the results of the 2020 election.
Federal prosecutors and Trump’s legal team are expected to make their first appearance in front of the South Florida judge assigned to oversee the classified-documents trial Tuesday afternoon. The procedural hearing in Judge Aileen Cannon’s courtroom in Fort Pierce, Fla., will probably discuss the logistics involved in a case that uses classified government documents as evidence.
It’s also possible that Cannon will address competing motions by Trump’s lawyers and the prosecution team regarding the possible timeline for an eventual trial.
Cannon has set a window for the trial to begin in the third or fourth week of August. But that time frame is considered a placeholder, as are most trial dates set in her court district shortly after an indictment. Federal prosecutors have proposed holding the trial in December, which would be before the start of the 2024 primary contests, in which Trump is vying for the Republican nomination to return to the White House.
Trump’s legal team has suggested that the trial should not be held until after the presidential election to ensure an impartial jury.
