Donald Trump Seizing Mar-a-Lago Documents Was for 'Ego, Investigators Believe on His Motive

By Mary Webber First Posted: Nov 15, 2022 12:50 AM EST

Former President Donald Trump's motive for seizing the classified materials, known as Mar-a-Lago documents, was ego, federal agents and prosecutors believe.

Federal officials have been looking at the recovered documents to see if there is a pattern. However, they have not been able to connect any efforts by the former president to sell or leverage the government documents.

Witness suggested to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that Trump just did not want to "give up what he believed was his property."

Many Trump advisers claimed that each time the former president was asked to give any documents or materials back, "his stance hardened," and he would always turn to his lawyers and advisers who indulged him.

Two of the people noted that Trump repeatedly claimed that the materials were his and not the government's, The Washington Post reported.

Former federal prosecutor Robert Mintz said it makes sense for prosecutors to search for a motive as keeping top secret documents at a private home "is such a perplexing thing to do."

Motive is an important part of how prosecutors review cases and decide whether to file criminal charges.

Donald Trump Lawyers Say Mar-a-Lago Documents Were 'Personal Records'

Donald Trump's lawyers were reportedly arguing that hundreds of documents that the FBI confiscated from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida were "personal" as he deemed it so.

However, federal prosecutors argued that the former president cannot classify the records as personal "simply by saying so."

The Justice Department also accused Trump of "gamesmanship" by saying he will assert executive privilege on the documents if a court-appointed watchdog rejects his claims that they are "personal" in nature.

The Justice Department is criminally probing Trump for the removal of government records from the White House and possible obstruction of justice. More than a hundred documents were determined to be classified.

By law, government records are the property of the government. When a president leaves office, the past administration must transfer it to the National Archives and Records Administration.

Mar-a-Lago Documents

The seized documents showed that the governments of six foreign countries spent more than $700,000 at Donald Trump's Washington, D.C. hotel over the first two years of his presidency.

The newly released accounting documents showed that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates were among those foreign countries.

House Oversight Committee obtained the documents through Mazars, which was Trump's former accounting firm.

The committee investigated Trump's businesses and his lease of the D.C. property from the government.

The spending in records included more than $250,000 by Malaysia; more than $280,000 by Qatar; more than $90,000 by the Saudis; and more than $74,000 by the UAE.

However, there is no evidence that foreign spending at Trump's hotel directly affected U.S. policy. The hotel was sold earlier this year by the Trump Organization.

House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney said in a statement that the documents sharply call into question "the extent to which President Trump was guided by his personal financial interest" while he was in office.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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