President Donald Trump celebrated on Friday after the FBI returned boxes of classified documents that were confiscated during a raid of Mar-a-Lago in 2022.
The FBI declined Newsweek’s emailed request for comment on Friday night.
Why It Matters
The FBI removed boxes of classified documents and other sensitive materials from Trump’s South Florida home in August 2022. Trump was accused of illegally retaining the documents following his first term in the White House and was indicted in June 2023 on dozens of federal felony charges.
Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, eventually dismissed the documents case in July 2024, ruling that former Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith had been illegally appointed by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Trump repeatedly claimed that the FBI raid was illegal and accused Smith, former President Joe Biden and other Democrats of unfairly targeting him in a political “witch hunt.”
What To Know
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung announced in a statement on Friday that the FBI, now led by Kash Patel, was “giving the President his property back that was taken during the unlawful and illegal raids.”
“We are taking possession of the boxes today and loading them onto Air Force One,” Cheung added.
The president celebrated the news in a post to Truth Social, asserting that the return of the documents meant that “justice” was being “restored.”
“The Department of Justice has just returned the boxes that Deranged Jack Smith made such a big deal about,” Trump wrote.
“Justice finally won out,” he continued. “I did absolutely nothing wrong. This was merely an attack on a political opponent that, obviously, did not work well. Justice in our Country will now be restored.”
What People Are Saying
Trump counselor Alina Habba, in a Friday post to X, formerly Twitter: “I just personally loaded the infamous “boxes” back onto Air Force 1 to head home where they belong. Justice has been and will continue to be restored in this country under President Trump. TRUTH AND JUSTICE ALWAYS WIN IN THE END. God Bless America.”
Comedian and online personality Gabe Sanchez, while sharing to X an FBI photo of boxes of the documents in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom: “Trump’s DOJ handed him back his boxes of classified documents, so now they’re headed right back to their rightful place…next to the s***ter.”
Former federal prosecutor and social media personality Ron Filipkowski, responding to Habba’s post on X: “Looks like classified documents are headed back to the bathroom at Mar-a-Lago with all the foreign workers there.”
What Happens Next
The classified documents will likely be headed back to Florida over the weekend. In his Truth Social post, Trump also said the documents would “someday be part of the Trump Presidential Library.”
The post Trump Celebrates Return of Classified Documents: ‘Justice Finally Won Out’ appeared first on Newsweek.
