An attorney for former President Donald Trump signed a written statement in June saying that there were no classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
The statement declaring that all boxes of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago had been returned to the government was signed after Jay Bratt, a top national security official in the U.S. Department of Justice met with two Trump lawyers to discuss the handling of classified information.
Trump’s lawyers Evan Corcoran and Christina Bobb were at the meeting with Bratt and other federal investigators who left with documents that were marked as classified. It was not immediately clear which of Trump’s lawyers signed the statement.
The existence of the Trump attorney statement suggests that Trump and his team may not have been fully sincere when dealing with federal authorities about classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, The Times reported. It could also explain why a charge of obstruction was cited by DOJ when seeking the warrant.
On Monday, the FBI executed a search warrant at the residence and seized 11 sets of classified documents including some marked as top secret, according to the Justice Department.
The warrant revealed that the FBI is investigating Trump for possible violations of the Espionage Act and other laws.
