The Department of Justic Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team has admitted to alterations in key evidence within the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, creating inconsistencies between digital scans and the actual order of documents within the physical boxes. This admission has raised concerns about the integrity of the evidence and has drawn criticism from legal experts and defense attorneys.
During court proceedings related to the case, Judge Aileen Cannon was told that the boxes containing classified documents seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence remained “in their original, intact form.” However, a footnote in a recent court filing revealed that classified documents had been removed from the boxes and replaced with placeholder sheets, leading to discrepancies between the digital scans made in 2022 and the current state of the physical evidence.
This has resulted in an “inconsistent” record, with the order of documents within some boxes differing from what was originally recorded.
The DOJ’s admission came after Judge Cannon ordered a review of the evidence following a request by Trump’s co-defendant, Walt Nauta, to determine whether the FBI may have seized legally privileged records. Smith’s team explained that personnel had accessed the boxes for various reasons, including to comply with court orders and to facilitate the defendants’ review of the boxes. The team downplayed the significance of the altered evidence, suggesting that it should not cause delays in the case.
Since the boxes were seized and stored, appropriate personnel have had access to the boxes for several reasons, including to comply with orders issued by this Court in the civil proceedings noted above, for investigative purposes, and to facilitate the defendants’ review of the boxes,” wrote Smith’s team in the Friday filing.
“There are some boxes where the order of items within that box is not the same as in the associated scans,” the filing continues.
The organization of the documents in storage boxes at Mar-a-Lago is likely to be an important part of Trump‘s defense. His team is expected to argue the documents were stored in the White House in chronological order on the days that Trump received them, and that staff simply boxed them up and sent them to his home without him accessing them or knowing they contained classified information.
Smith’s team tried to downplay the problem and argued it’s not a reason for a delay in Trump’s case.
But several legal experts told Just the News the court filing essentially is an admission of evidence tampering, and could be problematic. -Just the News
Legal experts have expressed concerns about the admission, indicating that tampering with or altering evidence can undermine the credibility of the case. Alan Dershowitz, a prominent legal analyst, noted that manipulating the order of documents in a box can impact the outcome of a trial, as it may distort the context or sequence of events. Defense attorney Tim Parlatore, who previously worked with Trump’s legal team, described the admission as “stunning on multiple levels” and suggested that it reinforces a pattern of prosecutorial incompetence.
