Donald Trump asked for boxes of records at Mar-a-Lago to be moved after receiving a government subpoena to return them, an employee of the former president reportedly told the FBI.
The FBI also has surveillance footage confirming the employee’s testimony, the Washington Post and CNN reported on Wednesday.
Together, the testimony and surveillance footage could represent some of the strongest known evidence to date of possible obstruction of justice by the former president.
The employee, who was working at Mar-a-Lago, is cooperating with the justice department and has been interviewed multiple times by federal agents, according to the Post.
The witness initially denied handling sensitive documents, but in subsequent conversations with agents admitted to moving boxes at Trump’s request after Trump advisers received a subpoena in May for documents the former president was keeping at his Palm Beach estate, the newspaper reported.
The FBI conducted a court-approved search on 8 August at Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago, seizing more than 11,000 documents, including about 100 marked as classified.
The justice department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. A Trump spokesperson said the Biden administration had “weaponized law enforcement”.
“Every other president has been given time and deference regarding the administration of documents, as the president has the ultimate authority to categorize records, and what materials should be classified,” the spokesperson, Taylor Budowich, told the Post.
Since news of the investigation into his handling of the documents broke in August, Trump has obtained the appointment of a special master to examine the materials seized by the FBI, and has asked the supreme court to intervene in a disagreement about which documents should fall under the special master’s purview.
The investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents is one of several continuing investigations and legal cases he faces as he considers running for president in 2024.
New York state’s attorney general recently filed a civil lawsuit accusing Trump and three of his adult children of fraud and misrepresentation in preparing financial statements from the family real estate company.
The Trump Organization also is scheduled to go on trial on 24 October on New York state criminal tax fraud charges.
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