Two people who searched Trump properties for classified documents testify before grand jury

Two people hired to search for classified material last year at properties belonging to former President Donald Trump have testified before a federal grand jury, according to a report.

Both individuals provided the panel investigating the 76-year-old former president’s mishandling of classified documents with roughly three hours of testimony, according to CNN.

The duo were hired to search Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey, country club, Trump Tower in New York, an office in Florida, and a storage unit in the Sunshine State, according to the report. 

In November of last year, lawyers hired by Trump found at least two documents marked as classified while searching a storage facility in West Palm Beach, Florida and handed the material over to the FBI, according to multiple reports.

The search party was organized by Trump to ensure that he had fully complied with a May 2022 grand jury subpoena ordering the handover of all materials with classified markings at the former president’s properties.

Those files were reportedly discovered by the two people who recently testified before the federal grand jury. 

The search came after an August 2022 FBI raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate where hundreds of documents with classified markings were seized. 

Special Counsel Jack Smith, appointed by the Justice Department in November,  is reportedly considering charges related to violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice in connection with the former president’s mishandling of classified documents.

Trump insists that he did nothing wrong and publicly said that he declassified all the material found at his properties post-presidency. 

According to CNN, Smith’s team has been pushing to access files on the laptop of at least one staff member close to Trump at Mar-a-Lago. The special counsel is reportedly seeking to determine if there is an electronic paper trail related to the classified documents.

Since Trump’s classified document scandal emerged late last year, President Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence have also turned over highly sensitive material to the National Archives that they say was inadvertently removed from the White House and stored at their residences or offices. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed special counsel Robert Hur earlier this month to investigate Biden’s mishandling of sensitive documents, some reportedly related to Iran, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.