Witness who worked at Mar-a-Lago provides fresh picture of Trump inquiry: Report

Jack Birle

May 04, 09:16 PM May 04, 09:17 PM

A person who worked at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort is reportedly cooperating in the special counsel investigation of the former president.

The person has provided information to special counsel Jack Smith regarding the investigation into Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents, per the New York Times.

JACK SMITH PROBING TRUMP ORGANIZATION'S HANDLING OF MAR-A-LAGO SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE: REPORT

An image of the storage room where several of the classified documents were stored was provided by the anonymous person, per the report.

The investigation is also reportedly looking into the former president's handling of surveillance videos at Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago in connection to the classified documents investigation.

The FBI raided Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in August 2022 as part of the Justice Department's investigation of Trump, which was then handed off after Trump declared his candidacy for president in November 2022. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith to investigate the former president independently for the alleged mishandling of classified documents as well as his role in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Charges have not yet been brought against Trump regarding either investigation, and no timetable has been provided for how long the investigation will persist.

President Joe Biden has also had classified documents discovered at his personal residences and his office at the Penn Biden Center. He is also under investigation by a special counsel, Robert Hur.

Trump is currently being investigated by a grand jury in Georgia for alleged interference in the 2020 election in the state. He also pleaded not guilty to the 34 criminal counts against him in a Manhattan courthouse last month.

The indictment in Manhattan came after an investigation into hush money payments made to two women in 2016 ahead of the presidential election.

Trump and Jean Carroll agree to combine defamation lawsuits into single trial

Cami Mondeaux

March 18, 09:25 AM March 18, 09:25 AM

Former President Donald Trump has agreed to combine two defamation lawsuits filed against him by former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her in the 1990s and later sued after he claimed she lied about the allegations.

An attorney for Carroll wrote a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Friday to request the separate defamation lawsuits be consolidated into one, noting the move would be crucial to avoid “jury confusion” as both cases focus on the same factual question. If approved, the trial would begin on April 25 and cover damage and liability from both cases.

TRUMP ACCESS HOLLYWOOD TAPE CAN BE PLAYED AT JEAN CARROLL TRIAL: JUDGE

“Because of the overlapping nature of these proceedings, a single trial will reduce costs across the board, avoid the risk of inconsistent factual rulings or jury confusion, and economize matters for the Court (as well as for both parties’ witnesses),” Carroll’s attorney wrote.

The agreement marks the latest in a yearslong legal battle brought by Carroll, who sued Trump for defamation in 2019 after he denied claims he had raped her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s. Carroll filed the suit after Trump repeatedly denied the allegations, describing her as “not my type.”

Carroll filed a second lawsuit in October after Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that the allegations were a “hoax and a lie.” As part of the second suit, Carroll also sued the former president for battery after New York passed a law giving victims of sexual assault the opportunity to sue their alleged perpetrators even if the statute of limitations had expired.

Trump has vehemently denied raping Carroll, who has accused him of sexually assaulting her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store after an alleged encounter in the mid-1990s. Trump has also pushed back on accusations of defamation, arguing his denial was a fair response to her claims.

Pence slams special counsel Jack Smith over requests to testify in Jan. 6 inquiry

Cami Mondeaux

February 25, 11:58 AM February 25, 11:58 AM

Mike Pence hit out against special counsel Jack Smith over his efforts to compel the former vice president to testify against former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, arguing the move is “unprecedented” and possibly “unconstitutional.”

Since being appointed to head the Justice Department investigation in November, Smith has hit the ground running by bringing a number of the former president’s closest aides before a grand jury to testify. As part of those efforts, Smith has also reportedly pushed for Pence’s testimony to detail behind-the-scenes conversations of Trump’s actions aimed at overturning his loss to President Joe Biden.

SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH HITS GROUND RUNNING IN TRUMP JAN. 6 INVESTIGATION

“Subpoenaing a former vice president to testify in court against the president with whom they served, I believe, is unprecedented in American history,” Pence told NBC News on Friday. “But as I said last week, I believe it’s also unconstitutional. And we’ll make that case through the ordinary judicial processes, but my counsel informs me that I’m, I’m constrained from speaking about it any further, but I stand by what I said. And I will continue to.”

DOJ officials sought Pence’s testimony as part of its investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the subsequent riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. As part of that effort, witnesses have been asked questions about meetings Trump held in December 2020 and January 2021 to consider actions aimed at overturning the election, as well as the former president’s pressure campaign on Pence to assist with that effort on Jan. 6.

DOJ officials reportedly reached out to Pence’s team sometime last year, and sources initially suggested the former president could be open to testifying. However, Pence’s comments to NBC News indicate he will not do so.

Prosecutors have sought details about meetings in which Trump and some of his allies suggested submitting alternative slates of electors that could be called on in the event that the election was decertified, according to the New York Times. Previous reporting said the DOJ has been investigating such Trump allies as John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani for their part in advising the former president as they developed strategies to block Biden's path to the White House.

The DOJ has also received the phone records of top officials in the Trump administration, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows, sources told the Washington Post last summer. The investigation aims to uncover what the former president told his attorneys and senior officials to do as part of their bid to change the 2020 election outcome, and there are two other paths that could lead to additional scrutiny of Trump, the sources said.

One centers on seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct a government proceeding, similar to charges levied against those arrested for storming the Capitol. Another involves charging Trump with fraud in connection to the false electors plot or his efforts to pressure the DOJ to overturn the results of the election.