Unsealed Documents Reveal Jack Smith’s Allegations of Further Trump Obstruction

According to an unsealed court filing released on Tuesday, Jack Smith, the special counsel investigating former President Donald Trump, suspected that Trump was actively obstructing the government’s probe into his handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

The court filings, released ahead of hearings scheduled for Wednesday regarding Trump’s aide Walt Nauta’s attempt to dismiss charges against him, reveal that in March 2023, prosecutors in the case were pushing a federal judge to compel Trump’s attorney, Evan Cocoran, to testify. They presented evidence of steps they believed Trump and his associates were taking to obstruct the investigation, as reported by ABC News.

Newsmax has contacted Trump officials for further comment on the document release.

One of the filings alleges that after Trump’s attorney informed him of a government subpoena for video footage from Mar-a-Lago, Trump ordered aides to return boxes that had been taken out of a storage room in the club’s basement, off camera.

Washington, D.C., District Court Judge Beryl Howell wrote in the opinion that “The government urged that this scramble to Mar-a-Lago in the wake of the June 24, 2022, phone call reflects the former president’s realization that the removal of the boxes from the storage room before [redacted] search was captured on camera, and his attempts to ensure that any subsequent movement of the boxes back to the storage room could occur off camera.”

Additionally, the filing revealed that the government had forced Trump’s attorneys to search his properties after the FBI’s search of his Florida estate in August 2022, as reported by Forbes.

Judge Howell noted that during subsequent searches at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, Trump Tower, and other locations, additional classified materials were found at an off-site office, Mar-a-Lago, and a storage unit.

Furthermore, Howell found that the government had “sufficiently demonstrated” that Trump had violated the obstruction statute by intentionally concealing the existence of additional documents with classification markings from his lawyers.

Last June, Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 counts related to the handling of classified materials after his presidency ended. Prosecutors accused him of refusing to return the documents and obstructing the government from retrieving them. Nauta has also pleaded not guilty to related charges.

Judge Howell agreed that the prosecution had shown that Trump likely ordered associates to avoid surveillance cameras deputized by the government.

The judge ordered Corcoran to testify about a June 24, 2022, phone call he had with Trump, which occurred on the same day the Trump Organization was subpoenaed for video footage.

Several other exhibits were unsealed on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, overseeing Trump’s criminal trial in Florida.

Over the weekend, Cannon criticized Smith for inconsistent positions on the need to seal evidence in the ongoing case.