On 8 August 2022, Attorney General Merrick Garland of the Department of Justice ordered a search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Largo estate in Florida. The ex-president was suspected of illegally removing classified government documents from the White House and improperly storing them in his private property.
The Presidential Records Act of 1978 requires an outgoing president to turn over all documents, notes, memos, emails and related records to the National Archives when he or she leaves office.
Although Donald Trump delayed the release of hundreds of documents for several months, prosecutors were finally able to seize 15 boxes of records. In doing so, Donald Trump may have exposed himself to criminal prosecution and made himself unfit to be president.
In November 2022, the attorney general appointed veteran prosecutor Jack Smith as special investigator to oversee the Justice Department’s criminal investigation of the former president.
The trial for the mishandling of classified government documents will begin in Miami on 20 May 2024.
To the German translation of this article: August 2022: Durchsuchung von Trumps Anwesen in Florida wegen unsachgemäßer Aufbewahrung von Regierungsunterlagen mit höchster Geheimhaltungsstufe