National
Here’s where Donald Trump allegedly kept classified documents at Mar-a-Lago
(CNN) — Former President Donald Trump allegedly kept classified documents at various places in his Mar-a-Lago resort, including a public ballroom, bathroom and a bedroom. According to the special counsel’s indictment of Trump released Friday, the Florida resort hosted more than 150 social events including weddings, movie premiers and fundraisers between January 2021 and August 2022, when the FBI executed a court-approved search of the premises for the documents. While the Secret Service protected Trump and family members after he left office, the agency wasn’t responsible for the boxes or contents, nor did Trump say classified documents were at Mar-a-Lago, the indictment states. Some classified documents contained information on US defense and nuclear capabilities that required special handling, according to the indictment. Here’s where documents were stored or found: Initially, some of the boxes were stacked on the stage of Mar-a-Lago’s White and Gold Ballroom, according to the indictment. Prosecutors describe the ballroom as a space where "events and gatherings took place." An individual in the photo has been redacted. A number of the boxes spent time in a bathroom and shower in The Mar-a-Lago Club’s Lake Room. The boxes were moved to a storage room on the ground floor of Mar-a-Lago. The hallway to that storage room, according to prosecutors, could be accessible from "multiple outside entrances" including the pool patio. The storage room was also near the liquor supply closet, linen room, lock shop and various other rooms. In December, Walt Nauta, a Trump aide charged alongside the former president, allegedly found several of the boxes had fallen and spilled their contents onto the floor. In November, one of Trump’s employees allegedly gave Trump a photograph of boxes stacked in the storage room so that he could see how many boxes were stacked. The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
By: Pristine Villarreal
June 9, 2023