Special Counsel Jack Smith has acknowledged that prosecutors and FBI agents altered boxes of evidence obtained from Mar-a-Lago during their search for classified documents. This admission, made in filings on Monday, corroborates investigative journalist Julie Kelly’s earlier reporting.
Kelly had flagged that the FBI inserted ominous yellow and red cover sheets into boxes of documents, suggesting the alteration was done to enhance the impact of publicized photographs of the seizure. She noted that the FBI had previously found “loose classified cover sheets” in a blue leather-bound book in Trump’s office.
Kelly reported on X that the FBI brought these colored cover sheets to the raid, ostensibly to substitute for classified documents found within Trump’s boxes. Instead, FBI agents attached these sheets to various files and took photos. Kelly claimed that in the DOJ’s opposition to Trump’s special master lawsuit in 2022, prosecutor Jay Bratt used these photos as a prop for the media to publish, implying that the papers were found with classified cover sheets.
The August 2022 raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate drew international headlines and significant media attention, which Kelly believes was intended to strengthen Smith’s case against Trump. Trump has also pointed out internal FBI documents that authorized the use of deadly force during the raid, which Smith and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland have stated is standard procedure for such operations. In response, Smith requested U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to impose a gag order on Trump to prevent him from making “dangerous” statements about law enforcement officers, a request Cannon seems likely to deny.
Defense attorneys have successfully urged Judge Cannon to order the removal of many redactions in the evidence presented by Smith, revealing significant details. For instance, Bratt allegedly met with the attorney for a Trump co-defendant, pressuring him to recuse himself or risk his potential judicial appointment. Additionally, emails between the DOJ and the U.S. National Archives indicated that both agencies coordinated a strategy for obtaining the documents without informing Trump’s defense attorneys.
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