The F.B.I. returned to President Trump the boxes of materials seized during the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate, which contained classified items central to a criminal case against him for illegally retaining documents. A judge had dismissed the charges, and prosecutors dropped their appeal following Trump’s re-election. Trump claimed he had the legal right to the documents, and after charges were dropped, he sought their return. The White House announced the retrieval of the boxes, including personal items, which Trump expressed a desire to include in his presidential library, asserting he did nothing wrong.
On Friday, the F.B.I. returned to President Trump the boxes of materials seized during a 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, as announced by the White House.
Included among the thousands of items taken were files that investigators claimed contained classified material, which formed the core evidence in a criminal case accusing Mr. Trump of unlawfully taking them when leaving office after his first term and obstructing government efforts to recover them.
However, a judge unexpectedly dismissed the charges last year, and the prosecution dropped its appeal to reinstate them following Mr. Trump’s re-election in November. Jack Smith, the special counsel involved, stated that the charges were dismissed due to a department policy preventing charges against a sitting president.
Mr. Trump maintained his position that he had a legal right to the documents regardless of their classification. After the charges were dropped, he and his supporters expressed their intention to reclaim the seized files.
White House communications director Steven Cheung stated that this occurred Friday afternoon.
“The F.B.I. is returning the president’s property that was taken during the unlawful raids,” Mr. Cheung remarked. “We are taking possession of the boxes today and loading them onto Air Force One.”
According to Mr. Cheung, the materials from Mar-a-Lago were loaded onto Air Force One prior to the president’s departure for Mar-a-Lago on Friday evening. Alina Habba, the president’s advisor, mentioned that the boxes contained personal items belonging to Mr. Trump and his family.
In his statement, the president expressed his desire to include the materials in the “Trump Presidential Library.”
“The Department of Justice has just returned the boxes that deranged Jack Smith made such a fuss about,” he stated, adding, “I did absolutely nothing wrong.”