Donald Trump has denied wrongdoing after a report on Monday said that one of the former president's long-time assistants told federal investigators he repeatedly wrote to-do lists for her on documents from the White House marked classified.
The aide, Molly Michael, told investigators that more than once she got requests or tasks from Trump written on the back of notecards that she later recognized as sensitive White House materials, ABC News reported on Monday, citing sources.
The notecards had visible classification markings used to brief Trump while he was still in office about phone calls with foreign leaders or other international matters, the news outlet said.
Michael became Trump's executive assistant in the White House in 2018 and continued to work for him when he left office. She resigned last year, in the wake of Trump's alleged refusal to comply with federal requests, ABC News said.
A Trump spokesperson dismissed the report as "illegal leaks" and denied wrongdoing.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has been charged along with two aides with illegally storing troves of classified documents at his personal residence and lying to federal investigators who sought to retrieve them.
Trump was charged in an indictment in June with criminal counts, including violations of the Espionage Act, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and making false statements to investigators. He has pleaded not guilty.
Trump is also under separate indictments in Washington, D.C., and Georgia over his alleged efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden and in New York over a hush-money payment he paid to a porn star. He denies wrongdoing.
themes: Joe Biden Donald Trump Georgia Washington New York (state)
Trump wrote to-do lists for Mar-a-Lago assistant on classified documents: report
Former President Donald Trump scrawled to-do lists for one of his Mar-a-Lago assistants on documents with classified markings, according to a report.
Molly Michael, a former White House executive assistant who continued working for Trump after his presidency, told federal investigators that on more than one occasion she received tasks from the 77-year-old former president written on the back of notecards with visible classification markings, according to ABC News.
The notecards reportedly contained information related to phone calls with foreign leaders or other international-related matters.
It's unclear if any of the notecards are among the classified documents that Trump is charged with unlawfully retaining.
Michael, whom multiple outlets have identified as "Trump Employee 2" in special counsel Jack Smith's indictment related to Trump's handling of sensitive White House documents, transferred the notecards to the FBI after she discovered that agents did not take them after the Aug. 8, 2022, search of Trump's Palm Beach, Fla., club and residence.
The Trump aide also told federal investigators that she was growing increasingly concerned with how the ex-commander in chief was handling requests from the National Archives for White House material that she knew was being stashed at Mar-a-Lago, according to the report.
Trump allegedly told Michael, "You don't know anything about the boxes," upon learning of the FBI's interest in speaking with her.
The former president pleaded not guilty in June to 37 counts related to his handling of classified White House documents.
Smith's indictment describes "Trump Employee 2," as the individual who photographed the boxes being stored at Mar-a-Lago in order to show the former president and someone who assisted Trump's valet and co-defendant Walt Nauta move the presidential documents around property, including to and from Trump's residence.
Michael reportedly told investigators that Trump grew reluctant about cooperating with the government after agreeing to turn over 15 boxes of documents to the National Archives out of about 90 that were being held at Mar-a-Lago.
The former president allegedly asked her to spread the message that no more boxes existed even after she pointed out to him that many people, including maintenance workers on the property, had seen the stacks and stacks of boxes.
Trump admitted in January that he kept folders after his presidency that once housed classified papers because "they were a 'cool' keepsake."??‹
"I saved hundreds of them," the former president said in a Truth Social post, explaining that the classified papers within the folders were collected by officials after White House briefings.
Trump even used an empty folder that said "Classified Evening Summary" to cover a light in his bedroom at Mar-a-Lago, ex-Trump lawyer Timothy Parlatore told CNN earlier this year.
"He has one of those landline telephones next to his bed, and it has a blue light on it, and it keeps him up at night. So he took the manilla folder and put it over so it would keep the light down so he could sleep at night," Parlatore claimed.
The folder was reportedly given to federal prosecutors in December 2022.
"It's just this folder. It says 'Classified Evening Summary' on it. It's not a classification marking. It's not anything that is controlled in any way. There is nothing illegal about it," Parlatore added.
Trump Denies Wrongdoing in Writing To-Do Lists on Classified Documents
..... These markings were related to phone calls with foreign leaders and other international matters. .....
The assistant, referred to as "Trump Employee 2" in special counsel Jack Smith's indictment regarding Trump's handling of sensitive White House documents, handed over the notecards to the FBI after realizing that they were not collected during the search of Trump's Palm Beach club and residence on August 8, 2022. Michael also expressed her growing concerns to federal investigators about how Trump was handling the National Archives' requests for White House material that she knew was being kept at Mar-a-Lago.
According to the report, Trump responded to the FBI's interest in speaking with Michael by stating, "You don't know anything about the boxes. ..... He stated that the classified papers within the folders were collected by officials after White House briefings. Furthermore, it was revealed that Trump used an empty folder labeled "Classified Evening Summary" to cover a light in his bedroom at Mar-a-Lago, as it kept him up at night. The folder was reportedly given to federal prosecutors in December 2022, and Trump's former lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, confirmed that it had no classification marking and was not illegal.
In response to the report, Trump denied any wrongdoing. His long-time assistant, Molly Michael, alleged that she received requests from him on notecards with visible classification markings. ..... These charges include violations of the Espionage Act, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and making false statements. In addition to these charges, Trump is facing separate indictments in Washington, D.C., Georgia, and New York, all of which he denies.
Trump says it was his decision to persist with 2020 election challenges
Former U.S. President Donald Trump said he dismissed the views of his own lawyers in continuing to challenge his 2020 defeat because he did not respect them, saying in an interview aired on Sunday that he had made up his own mind that the election had been “rigged” - a false claim that he continues to make.
Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination to take on Democratic President Joe Biden in the 2024 election, is now facing four concurrent criminal prosecutions, including two involving his attempts to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden.
"It was my decision," Trump told NBC's "Meet the Press" program, that the election was “rigged” against him, adding that he relied heavily upon his own “instincts” in coming to that conclusion.
Trump has continued to make false claims that the election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud.
Asked why he dismissed the views of lawyers in the White House and his campaign that he had lost the election, Trump responded: "Because I didn't respect them."
Trump singled out former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who told him that he had lost the election, as one of the lawyers whose advice he did not follow.
"I listened to some people," Trump said. "Guys like Bill Barr, who was a stiff, but he wasn't there at the time. But he didn't do his job because he was afraid."
Trump has pleaded not guilty in all four criminal cases, including a federal prosecution in Washington and a Georgia state indictment that involve to his attempts to recruit a slate of phony electors for congressional certification of the 2020 election results.
His comments on Sunday could undermine one of his possible legal defenses - that he relied on the advice of his lawyers in continuing to challenge his defeat. U.S. courts threw out dozens of legal challenges from Trump's campaign and allies following the November 2020 election.