The FBI considered conducting a “loose” surveillance of Donald Trump’s private airplane to see if it contained missing classified documents, according to a newly released court filing.
On Monday, nearly 400 pages of partially redacted investigative records related to the case were unsealed by Judge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over the case.
Trump is facing 40 felony charges related to claims he mishandled classified documents he had access to as president after leaving the White House in January 2021, then obstructed efforts to get them returned to the proper authorities. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges, the most serious of which comes with a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. In August 2022, FBI agents raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and recovered dozens of boxes containing classified papers.
Among the documents Judge Cannon released on Monday was an FBI update from June 3, 2022, in which a figure from the agency’s counterintelligence division, whose name is redacted, discusses conducting “loose surveillance on FPOTUS’s [former president of the United States] plane to determine if boxes are loaded onto the plane.”
Trump owns a Boeing 757 nicknamed “Trump Force One” which he frequently uses to travel between various events. The FBI update did not explicitly state if this was the aircraft they considered putting under surveillance.
Another of the newly released papers details the interview of an unnamed Trump associate by the FBI in which they recount a November 2021 discussion with the former president at either the Mar-a-Lago library or card room.
Addressing Trump about classified documents in his possession the associate, named “person 16,” claims they said: “Whatever you have, give everything back—let them come here and get everything.
“Don’t give them a noble reason to indict you, because they will.”
According to person 16, Trump gave a “weird ‘you’re the man’ type of response” before they were interrupted by a club member with a “much younger woman” who wanted their photo taken with the former president.
The source also recounted a conversation in which they claimed one of Trump’s children was warned he needed to return the classified documents in his possession. They reportedly said: “There are issues with the boxes. They belong to the government. Talk to your dad about giving them back. It’s not worth the aggravation.”
Person 16 also told the FBI that Trump had suggested his personal aide Walt Nauta, who has also been charged in the case, would receive a pardon if he was re-elected as president.
He said “Nauta was also told that even if he gets charged with lying to the F.B.I., FPOTUS will pardon him in 2024.”
The documents made public on Monday had initially formed part of a motion Trump’s lawyers filed in January requesting more discovery evidence related to the case. Judge Cannon ruled they should be made public earlier this month but gave prosecutors time to redact witnesses names.
Trump is currently on trial over claims he falsified business records to conceal the payment of hush money to Stormy Daniels, a former adult film actress with whom he allegedly had an affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The 2024 presumptive Republican presidential candidate has pleaded not guilty to any wrongdoing and denies Daniels’ claims that they had sexual relations in 2006.
This week Trump’s legal team argued his classified documents trial should be delayed as they don’t have a secure room near his Manhattan hush money trial where they can discuss the case in detail.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the classified documents case, objected, commenting: “This premise is untethered to reality and disregards the substantial motion practice that has occurred before this [Florida] Court.”
In addition, Trump has two upcoming trials over allegations he broke the law attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election result both nationwide and in the state of Georgia specifically. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts and claims the charges against him are politically motivated.
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