Trump legal team turns over additional classified materials to federal prosecutors: reports

by Julia Shapero - 02/10/23 9:35 PM ET

Former President Trump’s legal team has turned over additional classified materials to federal prosecutors in recent months, multiple outlets reported on Friday.

The additional materials, which included an empty folder with classified markings, were discovered by Trump’s attorneys at his Mar-a-Lago residence and subsequently handed over to the Department of Justice (DOJ), according to The Associated Press.

A current Trump aide’s laptop was also reportedly turned over to federal prosecutors, after it was found that the classified materials had been electronically copied onto the device, according to ABC News. ABC News was the first to report on the new classified materials.

The discoveries are the latest in a yearlong effort by the Department of Justice to recover classified materials and other records from the former president.

The DOJ first became involved when more than 100 classified documents were discovered among boxes of records that the National Archives and Records Administration retrieved from Mar-a-Lago last January.

Trump’s attorneys turned over several more classified documents last June, in response to a subpoena from the Department of Justice.

However, amid concerns that classified materials remained at Mar-a-Lago, the FBI obtained a search warrant for the former president’s Florida home in August and discovered about 100 additional classified documents.

Trump’s handling of classified materials remains the subject of an investigation by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed in November to oversee the DOJ’s probes into the former president. Smith is also leading the department’s investigation into Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Reports also emerged on Thursday that former Vice President Mike Pence and former national security adviser Robert O’Brien had both received subpoenas from Smith.

Classified documents have also been found in the private homes of President Biden and Pence — and those documents have been turned into DOJ and are under investigation.