New batch of classified materials discovered in Trump's storage unit in Florida

The documents were found by lawyers hired by Trump in compliance with a grand jury subpoena

By Kelly McClure

Nights & Weekends Editor

Published December 7, 2022 5:37PM (EST)

Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media during an election night event at Mar-a-Lago on November 08, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida.  (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media during an election night event at Mar-a-Lago on November 08, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A team of lawyers hired by Trump to search his properties for any further evidence of classified documents in compliance with a grand jury subpoena have come away with a new batch.

The classified documents were discovered in a storage unit in West Palm Beach, Florida known to be used by the former president, according to "people familiar with the matter" sourced by  The Washington Post, and have since been handed over to the FBI.

Per The Washington Post's coverage of the new findings, the storage unit was rented as a catch-all for items once held in an office in Northern Virginia used by members of Trump's staff during the month's following Trump's presidency. The unit, which the General Services Administration helped Trump obtain to assist with his transition out of office, also contained a hodgepodge of items such as "suits and swords and wrestling belts," according to The Washington Post's unnamed source.


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"To my knowledge, he has never even been to that storage unit," this source said to The Washington Post. "I don't think anyone in Trump World could tell you what's in that storage unit." 

The subpoena issued against Trump in May was done so under the assumption that the former president may have taken classified documents away with him at the end of his term beyond what was found hidden in plain sight at his Mar-a-Lago residence in August. According to The New York Times, Trump's team made a claim earlier on Wednesday that no further documents had been found during the extended searches conducted by Trump's lawyers, but that claim has now been proven false. 


By Kelly McClure

Kelly McClure is Salon's Nights and Weekends Editor covering daily news, politics and culture. Her work has been featured in Vulture, The A.V. Club, Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan, Nylon, Vice, and elsewhere. She is the author of Something is Always Happening Somewhere.

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