Category Archives: Mar-a-Lago

DoJ bids to regain access to classified documents seized in Trump search – as it happened

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Joe Biden is in the intriguingly named Licking county, Ohio, where he’s at the groundbreaking ceremony of a new Intel factory and about to deliver remarks about the Chips Act, which will boost US production of semiconductors.

The White House says this particular groundbreaking is a different occasion from the usual “scripted, backslapping affairs for political dignitaries”.

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Justice department appeals special master ruling for Trump documents

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Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, had granted a request for an independent figure to review records from Mar-a-Lago

The US justice department has demanded that a federal judge restore its access to documents seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort that carried classification markings, saying that if not, it would appeal to a higher court.

The demands came in a three-page notice of appeal filed by the justice department on Thursday in the case involving Trump’s request for a so-called special master, and paves the way for the government to submit a detailed appeals brief to the US court of appeals for the 11th circuit.

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FBI found document on foreign nuclear defenses at Mar-a-Lago – report

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Recovered records include material even senior Biden officials were not authorized to view, Washington Post reports

The FBI recovered a document describing a foreign government’s nuclear capabilities during its search of Mar-a-Lago, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The Post, citing unnamed sources, did not identify the foreign government named in the document describing the country’s military defenses.

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Judge grants Trump’s request for special master to handle seized documents

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Federal court accepts ex-president’s call for official to set aside materials potentially subject to privilege protections

A federal judge has granted Donald Trump’s request to have a “special master” appointed to review documents the FBI seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate that could be subject to privilege protections in the investigation into unauthorized retention of government secrets.

The order from the US district court judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, also temporarily barred the justice department from reviewing the documents for its criminal inquiry until the special master completes its work, in a decision that marked a procedural victory for the former president.

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Trump Mar-a-Lago home searched over ‘likely’ efforts to hide files, DoJ says

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Court filing alleges files were found despite Trump lawyers saying all documents had been returned

The FBI searched Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after it obtained evidence there was probably an effort to conceal classified documents in defiance of a grand jury subpoena and despite Trump’s lawyers suggesting otherwise, the Department of Justice said in a court filing late on Tuesday night.

The filing, opposing Trump’s request for an independent review of materials seized, amounted to the most detailed picture of potential obstruction of justice yet outlined by the DoJ.

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Critics denounce Lindsey Graham for warning of ‘riots in the street’ if Trump indicted – as it happened

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Justice department faces deadline for detailed inventory of files while ex-president’s team must argue for review by special master

More from Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe on the legal case around the FBI search and seizure of classified documents from former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club-resort and home.

Tribe v Oz

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US investigates fake heiress who infiltrated Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort

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A Ukrainian woman posed as a Rothschild to gain access to the Florida resort, heightening fears over security lapses

A second foreign national is being investigated by US authorities for gaining access to Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s Florida resort which is at the center of an FBI probe over missing classified documents, heightening fears over security lapses both during and after his presidency.

According to an article from the Organized Crime & Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a Ukrainian woman posing as a member of the Rothschild banking dynasty is under bureau investigation after infiltrating the private members club under a false pretense.

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Trump search affidavit reveals potential for ‘evidence of obstruction’ at Mar-a-Lago – live

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Heavily redacted document also says several documents contained what appears to be Trump’s handwritten notes

Three new sealed filings have appeared online in the federal court system related to the Mar-a-Lago case, Politico reports:

Since they are not public, it’s unclear what they are, but a federal magistrate judge gave the justice department until noon eastern time today to make the redacted affidavit justifying the search public.

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Federal judge orders release of redacted Trump search affidavit

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Affidavit is expected to contain information about investigation into Trump’s retention of government secrets at Mar-a-Lago

A federal judge ordered on Thursday that the affidavit justifying the search warrant used to seize sensitive government documents from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida earlier this month should be partly unsealed according to redactions proposed by the justice department.

The order from Judge Bruce Reinhart, who approved the FBI search warrant and is overseeing the case, instructed the justice department to release a redacted version of the affidavit that he had reviewed before noon on Friday.

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Trump appears to concede he illegally retained official documents

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Court motion submitted by ex-president’s lawyers argues some materials seized by FBI could be subject to executive privilege

Donald Trump appeared to concede in his court filing over the seizure of materials from his Florida resort that he unlawfully retained official government documents, as the former president argued that some of the documents collected by the FBI could be subject to executive privilege.

The motion submitted on Monday by the former president’s lawyers argued that a court should appoint a so-called special master to separate out and determine what materials the justice department can review as evidence due to privilege issues.

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IRS to review security at facilities as threats from extremists increase

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The security assessment will be first of its kind since the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing following far-right chatter online

The Internal Revenue Service announced on Tuesday that it will do a security assessment of its facilities following increased threats from alt-right extremists and a burst of funding the agency is set to obtain.

The review at the tax collection agency is the first type of assessment for the group since the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, when an explosive device near an Oklahoma City federal building killed 168 people, the Washington Post first reported.

The IRS sent a letter to employees last Wednesday with IRS commissioner Charles Rettig writing that the agency would be assessing risk in each of the IRS’ 600 buildings and determine what additional safety measures were needed.

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Anthony Fauci to step down as chief US medical adviser at end of year – as it happened

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The departure of Anthony Fauci comes amid what is looking to be a major shake-up of American public health institutions. Last week, the head of the CDC announced reforms to the agency, which was criticized for its response to Covid-19 and, more recently, monkeypox:

The head of the top US public health agency on Wednesday announced a shake-up of the organization, intended to make it more nimble.

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Trump set to ask court for ‘special master’ to review Mar-a-Lago evidence

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Legal motion would seek appointment of official to decide what materials can be used in investigation, attorney and sources say

Donald Trump is expected to seek the appointment of a special court official to determine whether materials that the FBI seized from his Florida resort can be used in a criminal investigation, according to his lead attorney Jim Trusty and two sources familiar with the matter.

The motion would be the first formal legal action by the former president after federal agents last week confiscated about 30 boxes of highly-sensitive documents from his Mar-a-Lago resort in connection with an investigation into the unauthorized retention of government secrets.

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Nuclear or not, classified or not, Mar-a-Lago files spell out jeopardy for Trump

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President says he declassified secret and sensitive documents – but that may not matter for him to be prosecuted.

Over the course of Friday, the circumstances of Monday’s FBI search of Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago have come into much sharper focus, which makes them look much worse for the former president.

The unsealed search and seizure warrant shows that it was carried out, in part, under the Espionage Act, a set of statutes dating to 1917 that have been used aggressively to go after leakers, whistleblowers and the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange. The code quoted in the warrant carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.

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FBI searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home for classified nuclear weapons documents – report

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Suspected presence of such documents could explain why US attorney general took step of ordering FBI agents into a former president’s house

FBI agents were looking for secret documents about nuclear weapons among other classified material when they searched Donald Trump’s home on Monday, it has been reported.

The Washington Post cited people familiar with the investigation as saying nuclear weapons documents were thought to be in the trove the FBI was hunting in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. They did not specify what kind of documents or whether they referred to the US arsenal or another country’s.

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Trump says he invoked fifth amendment in New York attorney general’s investigation: ‘I declined to answer’– live

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In lengthy statement, Trump says he refused to answer questions during deposition as part of inquiry into real estate dealings

The justice department has announced charges against a Tehran-based member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards for attempting to hire someone in the United States to kill John Bolton, a national security adviser under Donald Trump.

According the department, 45-year-old Shahram Poursafi last year promised an unnamed person in the United States $300,000 to kill Bolton, probably as retaliation for Washington’s assassination of Qassem Suleimani in January 2020. The goal was apparently to have Bolton killed by the 3 January anniversary of Suleimani’s death in Baghdad, but the person Poursafi allegedly hired for the job was actually a confidential informant.

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Mar-a-Lago: woman with malware and Chinese passports accused of illegal entry

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Yujing Zhang is charged with lying to federal agents and illegally entering a restricted area, and remains in custody

A woman carrying two Chinese passports and a device containing computer malware lied to Secret Service agents and briefly gained admission to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club over the weekend during his Florida visit, federal prosecutors allege in court documents.

Yujing Zhang, 32, approached a Secret Service agent at a checkpoint outside the Palm Beach club early Saturday afternoon and said she was a member who wanted to use the pool, court documents said. She showed the passports as identification.

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‘Bad boys of Brexit’ were guests at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club

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Arron Banks and Andy Wigmore have drawn the scrutiny of investigators looking into possible Russian interference in the 2016 referendum vote

Two controversial backers of the Brexit movement were guests last year at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.

Arron Banks and Andy Wigmore, known as the “bad boys of Brexit”, visited the Palm Beach club in April, according to a review by the Palm Beach Post of Instagram posts tagged at the spot.

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‘Pay-for-access to Trump club’: Mar-a-Lago faces renewed ethics concerns

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With the winding down of the ‘Winter White House’ comes another season of controversy and scandal that swirl around the president’s resort

At Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s waterfront winter retreat, an end-of-term air hangs over the expansive verandas and perfectly manicured lawns. In barely a month’s time, following the traditional season-closing Easter Sunday brunch gala, the private members’ club will be scrubbed and shuttered for the summer, its wealthy clientele dispersing to residences in the Hamptons or boarding their mega-yachts to cruise the Mediterranean.

Related: Trump's four 2017 Mar-a-Lago trips cost taxpayers nearly $14m, watchdog says

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