By Mark Sumner for Daily Kos
Daily Kos Staff
Former President Donald Trump is currently facing 40 counts in the investigation involving classified documents kept at his Mar-a-Lago resort. But despite the indictment detailing how Trump allegedly transported some of those documents away and even reportedly showed them off to a writer at his New Jersey golf facility, it appears the FBI never searched this nearby office or other Trump locations.
Considering the number of properties Trump owns, searching them all would be a challenge. But it seems like an exception might be made for the office detailed in an NBC report. That office is just 10 minutes down the road from Mar-a-Lago, in a building that also houses offices of the Secret Service and IRS. Not only is it reported that there were “boxes everywhere” in the office, it is also known to have housed classified materials at one time.
And best of all, the office is paid for with taxpayer funds.
The office in question is on North Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach, Florida. According to NBC, this location is being rented out of funds intended for Trump’s post-presidential office. However, those who walk in expecting to find any kind of staff, or even Trump’s name on the door, are going to be disappointed.
The office nameplate is covered over with a blank piece of paper. There’s no sign on the door, or on the frosted glass window. For a guy who loves to stamp his name on everything he owns in giant gold letters, this location is conspicuously austere. The address is also not listed on the web page dedicated to Trump’s post-White House office. Even Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung claims he “never heard of” the North Flagler office.
However, according to NBC, it has “apparently housed classified material.” The FBI never conducted a search of the property, but it has been searched by a private firm selected by Trump’s attorneys.
Reportedly, the office still has boxes piled against the wall and in the main room. Kind of like Trump’s Mar-a-Lago shower, though probably without the tacky fixtures.
It’s reported that several of Trump’s aides working for his campaign or PAC have worked out of the post-presidential office, presumably meaning the North Flagler location. That would be a violation of federal law, which prohibits partisan activities in what is a government facility. Asked about this, Cheung reportedly failed to respond.
But the bigger question about this office is one that could be applied to many Trump properties: What’s in the boxes, and why hasn’t the FBI looked?
In an interview with Business Insider, Bush-era special prosecutor Peter Zeidenberg suggested that the FBI was unlikely to search other locations because they were not “gonna go just looking around.”
However, since there is already convincing evidence that this location held at least one box of classified documents, and some of the charges against Trump and co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira concern attempts to conceal documents … shouldn’t that be sufficient cause to get a few search warrants? Besides, Trump regularly accuses the FBI of being engaged in a “witch hunt.” Compared with that, a fishing expedition seems pretty benign.
According to a February article in The Guardian, at least one box of documents with classified markings were transported to Mar-a-Lago from “another office in Florida” some time after the FBI completed its search of Trump’s resort. These documents appear to have come from the North Flagler office.
Private parties hired by Trump’s legal team searched the office, along with Trump Tower and the Bedminister golf site. The Department of Justice was reportedly unhappy with the Mar-a-Lago search and pressed for a repeat visit to that location. No additional private searches appear to have taken place at Bedminster or North Flagler.
Many of the documents from the box at North Flagler appear to have been related to Trump’s schedules in the White House. In January, the federal grand jury investigating the classified documents case issued a subpoena for one of those documents, a folder marked “Classified Evening Briefing.” That document was reportedly found in Trump’s bedroom.
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