New photos show Trump's 'haphazard' storage of classified documents, special counsel says

Documents and materials seized during a search of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home and social club are pictured in this undated handout picture obtained by Reuters on June 25, 2024.U.s. Justice Department | Via Reuters

Federal prosecutors in Donald Trump's classified documents case released new photos showing what they called the "haphazard manner" in which Trump stored boxes of documents that federal agents later seized from Mar-a-Lago in August 2022.

The filing came in response to Trump's most recent motion to dismiss the case that argued that the FBI agents destroyed "exculpatory evidence" by failing to keep the documents in the same order in which they found them.

Pointing to the photos — some of which show documents spilling onto the floor, while others show various items such as clothing and newspapers in the boxes — prosecutors said Trump's motion to dismiss should be denied without a hearing.

Documents and materials seized during a search of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and social club, are pictured in this handout.U.s. Justice Department | Via Reuters

"Against this backdrop of the haphazard manner in which Trump chose to maintain his boxes, he now claims that the precise order of the items within the boxes when they left the White House was critical to his defense," prosecutors, led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, wrote in the filing submitted Monday evening.

Prosecutors not only pushed back on Trump's claim that such an order existed, but they also argued that federal agents "maintained the integrity of each container in which the evidence was found, that is, box-to-box integrity."

The former president faces 40 federal criminal charges related to his alleged retention of classified government documents after his presidency ended, and efforts to keep the documents away from federal authorities.

Documents and materials seized during a search of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home and social club are pictured in this undated handout picture obtained by Reuters on June 25, 2024.U.s. Justice Department | Via Reuters

While Trump's trial was scheduled to start May 20, a federal judge indefinitely postponed that date last month. The May 7 ruling from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon also added a slew of new pretrial proceedings, making it all but certain the likely nominee will not stand trial before the November election.

Cannon oversaw two hearings in the case on Monday in her Fort Pierce, Florida, courtroom, NBC News reported.

"The FBI agents who conducted the search did so professionally, thoroughly, and carefully under challenging circumstances," they wrote, "

particularly given the cluttered state of the boxes and the substantial volume of highly classified documents Trump had retained."

The first was on a separate defense motion to dismiss the case, which challenged the constitutionality of Smith's appointment as special prosecutor. The second hearing addressed a special counsel request for a gag order on Trump.

The former president also faces charges in Washington, D.C., federal court and Georgia state court related to his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

A New York jury last month found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. His sentencing in that case is scheduled for July 11.