In the latest development of the high-stakes legal drama surrounding former President Donald Trump and the classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago residence, a striking detail has emerged: the storage room where these materials were kept could allegedly be unlocked with something as mundane as a coat hanger. According to a witness in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, the door had a simple push-button lock, likened to those found on a residential bathroom door, that could be easily popped open. This revelation, relayed to FBI agents by an unidentified Trump aide, challenges Trump’s assertions of security and may have significant implications for the ongoing trial.
Trump, who has been indicted on 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials post-presidency, has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The prosecution accuses him of holding onto hundreds of documents with sensitive information, including U.S. nuclear secrets and defense capabilities, and obstructing efforts to retrieve them. Investigators were told that visitors could lock the storage room door from the inside, with a witness comparing the lock’s simplicity to those used to ensure privacy in a home setting. The defense seems undermined by photos presented in the indictment, showing boxes believed to contain classified materials in less-than-secure locations, such as a ballroom and even a bathroom at Mar-a-Lago.
The witness informed investigators that in the summer of 2021, the storage room door had a knob with a pinhole. Visitors could lock it from the inside using a push button.
“Kind of like what you would find on a residential door inside of a home?” an FBI agent asked.
“So it might have a lock like that on one side of it then other side, rather than an actual place for a key,” an agent added.
“Yeah,” the witness said.
“–very tiny screwdriver?”
“Um-hmm,” the witness said.
The witness’ lawyer, John Irving, soon added, “Like when my kids lock themselves in the bathroom.”
“Yeah,” the witness said. “And then they’d pop it open.”
The disclosures of these security concerns are part of a broader narrative in the Special Counsel’s case against Trump. This case sits within an extensive repository of court proceedings and pretrial motions contained in the Southern District of Florida’s Clearinghouse on the Mar-a-Lago Documents Case. The repository tracks the complex legal arguments put forth by Trump’s legal team, including challenges to the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith and assertions of presidential immunity, and the prosecution’s counterarguments, which seek to uphold the legitimacy of the charges and the investigation.
Further complicating the situation is the case against Trump’s valet, Walt Nauta, and Mar-a-Lago property manager, Carlos De Oliveira, who stand accused alongside Trump for mishandling federal documents.
“Although he was asked whether he had removed anything from the storage room, he did not inform the grand jury that he had removed approximately 60 boxes between May 24 and June 1, 2022,” Smith said. “As a result, the Government did not discover Nauta’s surreptitious box movement until later, when it obtained security camera footage showing his conduct.”
Relevant articles:
– A ‘coat hanger’ could unlock Mar-a-Lago storage room where Trump stored classified docs: Witness, abcnews.go.com, 04/28/2024
– Clearinghouse: Mar-a-Lago Documents Case – Southern District of Florida, Just Security, Sat, 27 Apr 2024 02:39:50 GMT
– Jack Smith tears apart Walt Nauta on dismissal and discovery, Law & Crime, Sat, 27 Apr 2024 14:02:00 GMT
– Hearing Friday in Donald Trump classified documents case but he’s not required to attend, AOL, Sat, 27 Apr 2024 07:48:51 GMT
– Donald Trump Demands ‘Workable’ Mar-a-Lago Raid Videos, Newsweek, Thu, 25 Apr 2024 14:57:01 GMT