Those records belonged to Trump, Fitton argued, citing a 2012 court case involving his organization that he said gave the former president the power to do whatever he wanted with records from his own tenure. The chairman of Judicial Watch suggested to Trump that if the files were returned, he would not have to give up any additional records, according to sources familiar with their previously undisclosed conversations.
While Trump continued to publicly tout his cooperation with the Archives, privately the former President became obsessed with Fitton’s arguments, complaining to aides about the 15 boxes that were delivered and becoming increasingly convinced that he should have the full review of records remaining at Mar-à-Lago, according to people with knowledge of his behavior at the time. Trump even asked Fitton at one point to brief his lawyers, a person familiar with the matter said. “Once Tom got in the boss’s ear, it was downhill from there,” said one person close to the former president, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.
In a phone interview with CNN, Fitton neither confirmed nor denied the conversations he had with Trump, but noted that on social media and on television he had the right to keep the documents he took with him at the end of his presidency. because they were inherently personal. Trump’s interactions with Fitton shed new light on his evolving — and often conflicted — stance on the Archives dating back to before he even left office and his recent reluctance to hand over more documents after initially giving up 15 boxes in January. While in touch with Fitton behind the scenes, Trump continued to publicly claim that he was cooperating with government officials. Trump did not fully rebuff the government as Fitton had advised, turning over some material in June after a meeting between his lawyers and federal investigators at Mar-a-Lago. But after a Trump lawyer claimed all the classified material had been provided, investigators developed evidence suggesting that was not the case, leading to the Aug. 8 investigation. A similar discrepancy has emerged between Trump’s private and public response to the FBI’s investigation of his Mar-a-Lago resort. Publicly, Trump and his allies have celebrated the surge in enthusiasm and fundraising among Republicans — with the former president portrayed as a victim of the “deep state.” Some in Trump’s orbit have even gone so far as to suggest that a possible indictment would give Trump a political boost as he considers another presidential run. But privately, the former President and his allies are growing concerned. A source close to the former president told CNN that Trump has raised questions about a possible indictment to members of his inner circle. Another adviser acknowledged that while Trump has certainly been in legal jeopardy in the past, even when he was president, this looks different and potentially more dangerous, especially since the former president no longer has the legal protections afforded to the executive office. A spokesman for Trump did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Trump’s legal team’s actions since the FBI probe — including a legal filing seeking a “special master” that a judge found problematic and told the team to clarify by Friday — have fueled questions about Trump’s strategy as his legal woes have multiplied. Trump’s team seems primarily interested in the PR fight — and Trump’s political prospects. While Trump has publicly requested the release of the affidavit justifying the search of his residence, his lawyers have yet to take any legal action to seek its disclosure. Meanwhile, Fitton’s conservative Judicial Watch, which often uses lawsuits to try to collect loose government activity and records, has filed to unseal the affidavit. So did CNN, along with other news outlets including The Washington Post, NBC News and Scripps.

Kim Jong Un FedExing Letters

When federal agents arrived at Trump’s oceanfront estate on Aug. 8, more than a year had passed since Archives officials first began asking representatives of the former president to return various materials removed from the White House and were transferred to Mar-a-Lago. Among them was Trump’s correspondence with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. At one point during the protracted negotiations, a senior Archives official instructed Scott Gast, a former attorney in Trump’s White House counsel’s office who had been appointed to coordinate with the National Archives, to send the letters using FedEx overnight service. “Please let me know before you mail it and then send the tracking code once it’s shipped. I need to make sure I have staff on hand to receive the package,” the official wrote to Gast and others in a June 2021 email he received. CNN. In the end, it took seven months for the Archives to finally receive Kim’s letters. They were among the 15 boxes that Trump aides allowed Archives officials to arrange for pickup from Mar-a-Lago earlier this year, which contained 700 pages of classified documents, according to the Archives. Sources close to the former president said his willingness to cooperate with the Archives and, ultimately, federal investigators further crumbled when Fitton became a prominent voice in his orbit. Fitton told Trump he had case law on his side because of Fitton’s own failed attempt a decade ago to gain access to some records from former President Bill Clinton’s time in office. In 2012, Judicial Watch sued to require the Archives to designate as presidential records recordings made by then-President Clinton with a historian named Taylor Branch. Doing so would make them subject to Freedom of Information Act requests.
The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed by a judge, who wrote that NARA “does not have the authority to designate the materials as “presidential records”” and “has no right, duty, or means to seize control of them.”
Although the Clinton case did not involve classified records, Fitton nevertheless believes his case proves that Trump has a right to keep his records. “I’ve been clear that President Trump is being abused here, and the Justice Department has changed its position on the Clinton case,” Fitton told CNN. After the 15 boxes were returned, “I noted at the time that it was contrary to the position of the Department of Justice in the Clinton-Taylor Branch case.”

Even people close to the former president have begun to privately question the ability of the legal team around him, particularly Christina Bobb, the former One America News Network anchor who became one of the faces of Trump’s legal team after March. -a-Lago search. In recent appearances in conservative media, Bob has promoted a number of conspiracy theories about the Mar-a-Lago investigation, including the baseless claim that the FBI planted evidence while at the Trump property. Bob previously assisted Rudy Giuliani’s behind-the-scenes efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. He signed the warrant receipts following the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago investigation. Bob did not respond to a request for comment. Last week, Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who has been a staunch supporter of Trump on her show, pushed Bob over the decision by Trump’s legal team not to file or participate in any motions related to the release of the federal affidavit filed to justify the search warrant.
“Aren’t you concerned that because you didn’t participate in any of these motions to fully release that affidavit, you then waive potential objections to how corrections are made by the Department of Justice later?” Ingraham asked Bob. Bob replied that the group was going to wait and see what happened with the unsealing of the affidavit. It took two weeks before Trump’s lawyers formally entered the legal battle over the search warrant. And when they finally did on Monday, their move had numerous legal flaws and drew criticism from legal experts on both sides of the aisle. The petition was filed in a separate case, filing it before a different judge than Florida Judge Bruce Rinehart, who authorized the search warrant. That judge, U.S. District Court Judge Elaine Cannon, gave Trump’s legal team until Friday to refine its legal arguments as part of its request for a “special master” — a third-party lawyer — to oversee the review of the evidence obtained during the investigation.
While Trump’s legal team has not filed motions to unseal the affidavit, Trump and his legal team have argued publicly that he should be freed. On Thursday, Reinhart ruled that the Justice Department must release a redacted version of the affidavit by noon Friday. Another attorney representing Trump, Alina Habba, suggested in a televised appearance Tuesday that the former president wants the Justice Department to release the names of witnesses who helped secure the Mar-a-Lago search warrant, who would be contained in the affidavit and which Government lawyers argued could spoil future witness cooperation. “The president’s position is the same as what I would advise him to do, which is to ask (the Justice Department) to disclose everything so we can see what’s going on. I understand the witness protection issue, but at the same time, these witnesses are really not it’s going to be hidden for a long time,” Habba told the conservative Newsmax network. “That’s just not the nature of the DOJ and the FBI, and unfortunately in our country there are always leaks.”
Besides Bob and Hamba, Trump is…