A Justice Department official blurted out that President Trump should be behind bars after classified documents were uncovered at his Mar-a-Lago home.
DOJ officials agreed he should be arrested after discovering a trove of “gravely sensitive” classified documents at Trump’s estate in August 2022, a new book excerpt by two veteran reporters has revealed.
Published Monday on MSNBC.com, Washington Post investigative reporter Aaron C. Davis and former Washington Post White House reporter Carol Leonnig detailed how FBI agents found hundreds of top-secret records in the now-president’s office, residence, and even his bathroom shower during their surprise raid.
In the wrong hands, officials said, these documents could get American operatives killed.
“If it was anybody else, we would arrest him tomorrow,” Julie Edelstein, the Justice Department’s top expert on the mishandling of classified records, said at the time, according to the excerpt.
Both removing classified documents from a secure government facility and trying to conceal them are crimes. Still, Trump evaded charges at first—solely because he’s Trump.
He finally faced 37 felony counts related to his mishandling of the records after Special Counsel Jack Smith took over the case one year later. But what was seen as a straightforward case soon collapsed after a Trump-appointed judge dismissed the charges.
Trump has since claimed the raid was a political hatchet job—going so far as to file administrative claims seeking “damages” over the search of Mar-a-Lago last month. He is now declaring that his own DOJ owes $230 million in damages, arguing he was “damaged very greatly” by the investigations.
Trump has vowed to donate any money he receives to charity—or use it to fund his prized new ballroom under construction at the White House.
The White House and DOJ did not immediately respond to request for comment.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson issued a statement claiming the court-approved search at Trump’s club was illegal, MSNBC reported.
“The Biden DOJ’s raid on President Trump’s home was highly illegal and yet, MSDNC continues to provide cover for the witch hunt against the President,” the statement read. “This is another perfect example as to why the American people no longer trust the media.”
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