US government documents, including classified files, appear to have been moved from a storage room at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate and concealed, the Justice Department said in a new court filing.
The department said moving the documents was probably part of an effort to obstruct a government investigation into the former president's possible mishandling of top secret documents.
The agency said more than 320 documents have been removed from Mr Trump's home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Before the FBI raid on August 8, the agency said it had uncovered "sources of evidence” showing that classified documents remained at Mar-a-Lago.
“The government also developed evidence that government records were likely concealed and removed from the storage room, and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation,” the department said in its 36-page court filing.
A photograph released by the Justice Department shows some of the records found at Mar-a-Lago, with six of those documents bearing “Top Secret/SCI” or “Secret/SCI” classification markings.
SCI stands for “sensitive compartmented information”.
Other documents spread out on the carpeted floor are whited out. Next to those documents is a cardboard box containing gold-framed photographs, including a cover of Time magazine.
During the raid, the FBI seized evidences including 33 boxes that contained more than 100 classified records, including those belonging to the highest levels of classification, agency lawyers wrote in the court filing.
The Justice Department said it provided the new details on the background of the investigation to “correct the incomplete and inaccurate narrative set forth in plaintiff’s [Mr Trump's] filings”.
The court filing was in response to Mr Trump's request to appoint a special master, a third-party individual acting as an independent overseer of a case, to review documents taken by the FBI.
His team on Wednesday evening continued to argue for a special master in a legal response to the Department of Justice on the court's request.
"The Government should provide to the special master and to Movant a copy of the Seized Materials, a copy of the Search Warrant, and an unredacted copy of the underlying application materials," its filling read.
Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, scheduled a hearing for Thursday to hear arguments on his request.
The agency argued against the appointment of a special master, saying that the government records “do not belong to him [Mr Trump]”.
The Presidential Records Act, the agency said, makes clear that the US government has complete control over the records in question.
Furthermore, the agency said, “the harms to the government and the public would far outweigh any benefit to plaintiff [Mr Trump]”.
Lawyers for Mr Trump claimed that the former president had wanted to protect some of the documents as part of executive privilege, which shields private presidential communications.
Mr Trump has also, without evidence, claimed to have declassified the records.
However, the Justice Department refuted those claims.
“When producing the documents, neither counsel nor the custodian asserted that the former president had declassified the documents or asserted any claim of executive privilege,” prosecutors wrote in the court filing.
An unsealed search warrant released earlier this month showed that Mr Trump is being investigated for potentially violating the Espionage Act as well as obstructing justice.
Mr Trump claims the raid on his home was illegal and has tried to portray it as a politically motivated stunt by President Joe Biden and the Justice Department.
“Terrible the way the FBI, during the raid of Mar-a-Lago, threw documents haphazardly all over the floor … and then started taking pictures of them for the public to see,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform.
“Thought they wanted them kept secret? Lucky I declassified.”
360Vuz PROFILE
Date started: January 2017
Founder: Khaled Zaatarah
Based: Dubai and Los Angeles
Sector: Technology
Size: 21 employees
Funding: $7 million
Investors: Shorooq Partners, KBW Ventures, Vision Ventures, Hala Ventures, 500Startups, Plug and Play, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, Jonathan Labin
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Scores
Oman 109-3 in 18.4 overs (Aqib Ilyas 45 not out, Aamir Kaleem 27) beat UAE 108-9 in 20 overs (Usman 27, Mustafa 24, Fayyaz 3-16, Bilal 3-23)
PROFILE OF STARZPLAY
Date started: 2014
Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand
Number of employees: 125
Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners
Match statistics
Dubai Sports City Eagles 8 Dubai Exiles 85
Eagles
Try: Bailey
Pen: Carey
Exiles
Tries: Botes 3, Sackmann 2, Fourie 2, Penalty, Walsh, Gairn, Crossley, Stubbs
Cons: Gerber 7
Pens: Gerber 3
Man of the match: Tomas Sackmann (Exiles)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What is Genes in Space?
Genes in Space is an annual competition first launched by the UAE Space Agency, The National and Boeing in 2015.
It challenges school pupils to design experiments to be conducted in space and it aims to encourage future talent for the UAE’s fledgling space industry. It is the first of its kind in the UAE and, as well as encouraging talent, it also aims to raise interest and awareness among the general population about space exploration.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
World%20Food%20Day%20
%3Cp%3ECelebrated%20on%20October%2016%2C%20to%20coincide%20with%20the%20founding%20date%20of%20the%20United%20Nations%20Food%20and%20Agriculture%20Organisation%2C%20World%20Food%20Day%20aims%20to%20tackle%20issues%20such%20as%20hunger%2C%20food%20security%2C%20food%20waste%20and%20the%20environmental%20impact%20of%20food%20production.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
more from Janine di Giovanni
From Conquest to Deportation
Jeronim Perovic, Hurst
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
