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‘They did this to continue the lie’: Firestorm over empty ‘classified’ folders among new list of Mar-a-Lago items

September 2, 2022 | | Print Article

The Florida Southern District Court unsealed a new inventory list on Friday detailing what the FBI hauled out of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, and the items, including clothing, books, photos, and empty folders marked “classified,” have confirmed for many their worst suspicions: The unprecedented raid was politically motivated.

“According to the property receipt, one box contained 43 empty folders with ‘CLASSIFIED’ banners and 28 empty folders labeled ‘Return to Staff Secretary/Military Aide,'” Law & Crime reports. “Another box found in the storage room contained two empty folders with ‘CLASSIFIED’ banners and two empty folders marked ‘Return to Staff Secretary/Military Aide.’ A storage room box marked ‘Item 25’ also contained an empty folder with a ‘CLASSIFIED’ banner, and yet another marked ‘Item 33’ contained two empty folders with ‘CLASSIFIED’ banners and another two marked ‘Return to Staff Secretary/Military Aide.”

Also seized were 14 items of clothing and gift items.

According to CNN legal analyst Jennifer Rodgers, the empty folders, used for transporting the documents, are proof that the handling of sensitive materials by Trump was “sloppy.”

“It’s kind of hard to know what to make of it because those folders are usually utilized when documents are being transported outside of a SCIF,” she said, referring to a “Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility.”

“So the fact that there are empty ones, it means again that the handling of these documents was certainly sloppy,” she stated.

While many on the left are speculating that the empty folders must mean that Trump did something nefarious with the documents they were meant to contain, former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti urged caution in light of so little information.

“I worry about reaching strong conclusions when we know so little,” he told Law & Crime. “Could just reflect how sloppy he handled classified material.”

 

Disturbing to Rodgers was the apparent comingling of classified or government with President Trump’s personal property.

“You’ll see classified Top Secret documents in the same container with non-classified, non-U.S. documents, like magazine articles, books, clothing, gift items, and the like, all kind of jumbled together, which, of course, is an egregious violation of the protocols for handling classified information,” she said.

Also unsealed was a three-page notice from prosecutors stressing how crucial the “ongoing process” of reviewing the seized items is to their “active criminal investigation.”

“The seized materials will continue to be used to further the government’s investigation, and the investigative team will continue to use and evaluate the seized materials as it takes further investigative steps, such as through additional witness interviews and grand jury practice,” it reads. “Additionally, all evidence pertaining to the seized items — including, but not limited to, the nature and manner in which they were stored, as well as any evidence with respect to particular documents or items of interest — will inform the government’s investigation.”

“Thus,” it continues, “it is important to note, ‘review’ of the seized materials is not a single investigative step but an ongoing process in this active criminal investigation.”

Reaction online to the judge’s release is, not surprisingly, split.

“The inventory list of materials seized from the unconstitutional FBI Trump raid has been unsealed. Mostly unclassified government documents, magazines, newspapers, books, photos, and press articles,” tweeted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). “They did this to continue to lie in the news about Trump. They belong in jail!”

“Release of more detailed inventory list generally unremarkable,” said attorney Mar S. Zaid. “But nearly 30 documents clearly marked classified found in Trump’s own office. Makes it more difficult for Trump to feign ignorance.”

Here’s a sample of some of the many tweets on the subject:

 

 

 

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