Federal prosecutors investigating former President Trump’s handling of classified documents have obtained the confidential cooperation of a person who worked for him at Mar-a-Lago, part of an effort to determine whether Trump ordered boxes containing sensitive material moved out of a storage room there as the government sought to recover it last year, reports the New York Times. Through new subpoenas and grand jury testimony, the Justice Department is moving aggressively to develop a picture of how the documents Trump took with him from the White House were stored, who had access to them, how the security camera system at Mar-a-Lago works and what Trump told aides and his lawyers about what material he had and its location. At the heart of the inquiry is whether Trump sought to hide documents after the Justice Department issued a subpoena last May demanding their return.
The existence of an insider witness could be a significant step in the investigation, which is being overseen by special counsel Jack Smith. The witness reportedly gave investigators a picture of the storage room where the material had been held. Prosecutors appear to be filling in gaps in their knowledge about the movement of the boxes, created in part by their handling of another key witness, Trump’s valet, Walt Nauta. Prosecutors believe Nauta has failed to provide them with a full and accurate account of his role in the movement of boxes containing the classified documents. At least four more Mar-a-Lago employees have been subpoenaed, along with another person who knew Trump’s thinking when he first returned material to the National Archives. , according to people briefed on the matter. Two people said that nearly everyone who works at Mar-a-Lago has been subpoenaed, and that some who serve in fairly obscure jobs have been asked back by investigators.