Trump puts forward new effort to throw out classified documents case
CNN
Former President Donald Trump has once again asked a judge to throw out the classified documents case, arguing this time that investigators destroyed exculpatory evidence by rifling through boxes for classified documents gathered in the FBI’s 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago.
Former President Donald Trump has once again asked a judge to throw out the classified documents case, arguing this time that investigators destroyed exculpatory evidence by rifling through boxes for classified documents gathered in the FBI’s 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago. The motion filed late Monday touches on allegations that have already come up in court – that the Justice Department allegedly tampered with evidence that would have been good for the former president. One of Trump’s codefendants asked Judge Aileen Cannon in May for a delay in the case because defense attorneys were struggling to understand the order of documents in the dozens of boxes seized by the FBI. Special counsel Jack Smith’s team has already acknowledged in court that some of the documents may be out of order. In a May court filing, prosecutors wrote that “there are some boxes where the order of items within that box is not the same as in the associated scans,” adding in a footnote that “the Government acknowledges that this is inconsistent with what Government counsel previously understood and represented to the Court.” Trump’s defense lawyers claim in their motion Monday that classified documents found during the search were “buried in boxes and comingled with President Trump’s personal effects from his first term in office,” so it was likely that the former president had no idea what was in the boxes – let alone if there were classified documents inside. But, according to Trump, those boxes have been tampered with because investigators failed to maintain the order of their contents. Investigators “made little if any effort to document the location of seized items within a box or to maintain the order of documents within each box that they searched,” defense attorneys wrote. The individuals who searched the boxes showed a “callous attitude toward President Trump’s rights and a disregard of basic professionalism,” the attorneys wrote.
For over a month, Transportation Security Administration employees have been showing up to work at US airports without getting paid.
CNN’s 5 Things AM brings you the news you need to know every morning.
Both President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have encouraged Susie Wiles to take the time she needs away from the White House to deal with her treatment, but Wiles argued she does not plan to do so, people familiar said.
A transparency law passed by Congress has forced the release of more Epstein files than ever before, but some lawmakers and victims are exploring ways to push the Justice Department to disclose even more information from the voluminous trove that’s being withheld.
Former US National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent sat Wednesday for an extensive interview with former Fox News host and right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson, his first public comments since he resigned from his post, citing concerns about the war with Iran.
When Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche arrived on Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon, they hoped to boost members’ confidence on their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. Within half an hour, Democratic lawmakers had walked out.
Cuba is going dark under US pressure. How the crisis unfolded and why its troubles are far from over
Almost three months after the US effectively imposed an oil blockade on Cuba that worsened its energy crunch, nearly every aspect of Cuban society has been feeling the strain.
The Department of Homeland Security has been ensnared by a partial government shutdown as Congress did not act to fund the agency by the end of Friday. But nearly all DHS workers will remain on the job — even if many won’t get paid until the lapse ends — and the public probably won’t notice much of a change.
The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is moving away from operations tied to the Iran war and sailing to the US Navy’s base in Crete for repairs after a fire broke out in the ship’s laundry area last week, a US official said.
An American college student visiting friends for spring break has gone missing in Spain, his family said, adding police have his phone.
A typically friendly setting for one of their own turned tense on Capitol Hill Wednesday with senators grilling Markwayne Mullin for roughly three hours as he vies to become President Donald Trump’s next Department of Homeland Security chief.
Top Trump administration officials testified publicly Wednesday for the first time since the launch of the Iran war three weeks ago.
The White House is temporarily lifting key limits on the shipping of oil, gas and other commodities throughout the US, in its latest effort to counter rising energy prices sparked by its war with Iran.