The grand jury involved in the federal criminal investigation regarding the handling of classified material by former President Donald Trump is expected to reconvene this week in Washington, D.C., after a period of decreased activity in recent weeks.
According to NBC News, there is little information regarding whether special counsel Jack Smith will pursue an indictment. Recent reports indicate that the National Archives has informed Smith about the existence of 16 records purportedly demonstrating that Trump and his senior advisors were aware of the declassification process during his presidency.
Additionally, prosecutors have reportedly obtained audio recordings in which Trump is said to discuss a classified document he retained after leaving office, the network reported. Trump has maintained his innocence and has attributed the investigation as just another political “witch hunt.”
But the fact that the grand jury is spooling up again suggests the investigation is ongoing, though last week the Justice Department announced it had concluded a similar investigation into former Vice President Mike Pence with prosecutors deciding they would not file any charges.
The investigation into Trump focuses on two primary aspects: whether he unlawfully retained classified information after his term ended and whether he attempted to obstruct investigators or engaged in evidence destruction.
The National Archives initially notified Trump in May 2021 about the need to return around two dozen boxes of records in compliance with the Presidential Records Act. Later in 2021, Trump received a warning that the matter could be escalated to prosecutors or Congress if he continued to refuse to relinquish the documents, the Daily Wire reported.
The outlet added:
In January 2022, about 15 of the boxes were returned at which time officials discovered there were more than 700 pages of classified materials in the boxes. Federal law enforcement was notified of the discovery and later came to believe that there were more materials that had not been turned over and a criminal investigation was subsequently launched.
In May 2022, a federal grand jury issued a subpoena seeking additional classified documents and, a few weeks later, the DOJ visited Mar-a-Lago and Trump’s legal team signed a written statement claiming that all the classified material had been returned. Over the course of the summer, investigators interviewed members of Trump’s staff and subpoenaed surveillance footage.
The FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August last year, to much criticism from his supporters.
“This is some third-world bulls**t right here,” then-Fox News host Dan Bongino said at the time. “Let me say it again, third-world bulls**t. I mean every word of that. I don’t care that it’s cable news.
“I was a federal agent, I raised my right hand. And I swore to protect and defend the constitution of the United States. And I love this country. This is a freaking disgrace. A disgrace. We don’t live in Cuba. We don’t live under Kim Jong Un” of North Korea, he continued.
“We live in a constitutional republic. A representative democracy. You have a bunch of FBI agents raiding the home of a former president because they don’t like his politics? Are you kidding me?” he added.
“This is some third-world garbage that happened tonight,” he continued.
