Timeline of the Trump Mar-a-Lago classified documents story trends now
Donald Trump's indictment comes almost a year after FBI agents conducted their raid on Mar-a-Lago, turning the classified documents that would lead to the former president being formally charged.
The incident began when Trump left office with records from his administration, which is against federal law. It involved the appointment of a special counsel, multiple Trump aides testifying before a grand jury and a fury of denials from the former president, who claims he is the victim of a political witch hunt.
Here's a timeline of events:
January 20, 2021: Donald Trump leaves the White House as Joe Biden is sworn in as the nation's 46th president; Trump goes his West Beach home Mar-a-Lago.
May 2021: National Archives and Records Administration realizes some records from Trump's presidency are missing
Workers move boxes out of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds, before the departure of President Donald Trump on January 14, 2021
December 2021: Archives requests the documents from the former president; in late December, a Trump representative informed the agency that an additional 12 boxes of records that should have been turned over had been found at the former president's Mar-a-Lago club and residence and were ready to be retrieved
January 18, 2022: Archives received 15 boxes of material that had been stored at Mar-a-Lago, some of which were found to contain classified material
The agency said it 'identified items marked as classified national security information, up to the level of Top Secret and including Sensitive Compartmented Information and Special Access Program materials.'
In total, the boxes were found to contain 184 documents with classified markings, including 67 marked confidential, 92 secret and 25 top secret.
February 8, 2022: The National Archives issues a public statement saying it is still searching for more of Trump's presidential records
February 9, 2022: The matter is referred to the Justice Department
February 10, 2022: U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee announces an investigation into Trump's handling of the documents
Donald Trump has claimed to be the victim of a political witch hunt
May 2022: After several back-and-forths with Trump's legal team, the Justice Department issues a subpoena for additional records they believe to be in the former president's Florida home
Investigators believe after that subpoena arrived, storage boxes, including some containing classified material, were moved from a Mar-a-Lago storage area, so Trump personally examined some of them.
April 12, 2022: Archives informed Trump of its intent to provide the documents to the FBI, at the request of the Justice Department. A Trump representative requested an extension until April 29.
April 29, 2022: The Justice Department sent a letter to Trump's lawyers seeking immediate access to the material, 'citing 'important national security interest.'
'Access to the materials is not only necessary for purposes of our ongoing criminal investigation, but the Executive Branch must also conduct an assessment of the potential damage resulting from the apparent manner in which these materials were stored and transported and take any necessary remedial steps,' the department wrote.
May 10, 2022: Archives informed Trump's lawyers that it would
