The Strangest Places Donald Trump Stored Classified Documents
When the FBI stormed Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence last year in search of illegally held documents, few could have predicted that they'd find a full 11,000 documents and photographs in his possession. At that point, Trump was no longer president. However, per the Presidential Records Act of 1978, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) says that presidents must submit back to the archives all documents held in their possession when they leave office. USA Today has a full breakdown of which presidents and vice presidents have or have not complied with these rules. And now, as CNBC says, Trump faces a 37 criminal count indictment and will be arraigned in Miami on Tuesday, June 13.
Given all of the above, folks might be left wondering a simple question: where could Donald Trump have kept a full 11,000 documents? After all, that's not exactly a single file full of A4 papers. As it turns out, Trump kept them in a place even more ridiculous and insecure than anyone could possibly imagine: the bathroom. The Daily Mail has pictures of the boxes stacked under a chandelier near a gold-framed mirror and sandwiched between a toilet and a shower with the curtain closed. The article also shows stacks of boxes on a stage in Mar-a-Lago's White and Gold Ballroom, a revelation that inadvertently answers a question no one knew that they had: yes, Trump has a ballroom. Some documents were labeled "Confidential," some "Secret," and others "Top Secret."
Next to a toilet and on a stage
While next to a toilet and on a ballroom stage are definitely the weirdest places that Trump kept government documents, the Daily Mail says that he also kept some in an office, his bedroom, and a storage room. By all accounts, White House aide Walt Nauta allegedly helped Trump move 64 boxes total to Mar-a-Lago, and then lied to the FBI about knowing where the boxes were. Amongst other things, the documents included information "concerning nuclear capabilities of a foreign country" and intelligence shared between the "Five Eyes" countries: U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. At some point, Nauta apparently went into the bathroom and snapped a picture of the documents and their classified information "spewed all over a bathroom floor."
Trump's indictment contains alleged recordings of conversations that Trump had regarding the documents that include statements indicating a willful desire to deceive the U.S. Department of Justice. 'Well what if we, what happens if we just don't respond at all or don't play ball with them [the Justice Department]?" Trump purportedly said, continuing, 'Wouldn't it be better if we just told them we don't have anything here?" and, "Well look isn't it better if there are no documents." Also included in Trump's indictment are claims that the former president discussed a military "plan to attack" with parties who didn't have proper security clearance, including aides and an "outside writer."