NEW: Special Counsel has evidence Trump was warned not to retain any classified docs after he was subpoenaed for their return last year — as they examine whether subsequent failure to fully comply with the subpoena was obstruction. exclusive
Follow
Click to Follow hugolowell
Hugo Lowell
@hugolowell
Political investigations reporter covering Trump and the Justice Dept. hugo.lowell@theguardian.com
Hugo Lowell’s Tweets
Re Trump obstruction “dress rehearsal” reporting in WaPo: That phrase came from a judge describing in a sealed memo Trump going thru boxes when responding to Archives. That is not the same as “Special Counsel has evidence Trump also went thru boxes after subpoena”
Quote Tweet
Breaking news: The Post has learned that investigators have new evidence of possible obstruction in the classified-documents investigation, including an alleged "dress rehearsal" for reviewing material Donald Trump wanted to keep. wapo.st/3qa9G0C
read image description
ALT
16
200
611
Show this thread
What is notable in the story is that the Special Counsel has evidence Trump might have shown classified docs in his office to people — putting him at risk of 18 USC 793e — and the fact that the grand jury last met on May 5, which suggests investigation is wrapping up.
8
71
325
Show this thread
Re Trump obstruction “dress rehearsal” reporting in WaPo: That phrase came from a judge describing in a sealed memo Trump going thru boxes when responding to Archives. That is not the same as “Special Counsel has evidence Trump also went thru boxes after subpoena”
Quote Tweet
Breaking news: The Post has learned that investigators have new evidence of possible obstruction in the classified-documents investigation, including an alleged "dress rehearsal" for reviewing material Donald Trump wanted to keep. wapo.st/3qa9G0C
read image description
ALT
16
200
611
Show this thread
New via WaPo: Prosecutors in addition have gathered evidence indicating that Trump at times kept classified documents in his Mar-a-Lago office in a place where they were visible and sometimes showed them to others, these people said.
34
243
797
The screen kept saying Preparing to launch. But this wasn’t one of Elon Musk’s space rockets that soars through the stratosphere. This was one that blew up on the pad — on Ron DeSantis’s 2024 announcement
24
156
553
DeSantis' argument over and over is that the party and the country needs to look forward but most of this rollout convo has been about a pandemic that is over.
5
34
139
Ron DeSantis' campaign announcement has devolved into a bunch of people just thanking Elon Musk and complaining about Twitter.
93
560
5,333
Show this thread
AOC trolls the low number of listeners on the Ron DeSantis campaign launch twitter spaces
Quote Tweet
We had more people join when I played Among Us 
twitter.com/oneunderscore_…
twitter.com/oneunderscore_…Show this thread
11
162
949
Okay Twitterverse: Calm down :)
Merrick Garland will *not* meet Trusty, etal. DOJ Special Counsel regs are explicitly clear on the process here. Jack Smith is running this investigation, not Garland.
42
313
1,490
Show this thread
This letter is giving me Mueller flashbacks… Every time the press would report that the special counsel was nearing a bad outcome for Trump, he’d insert himself into the inquiry. This comes hours after reports Jack Smith is wrapping up the MAL investigation
Quote Tweet
NEW: Trump posts on Truth Social a letter that his lawyers John Rowley and Jim Trusty sent to the Attorney General asking for a meeting.
117
214
872
NEW: Trump posts on Truth Social a letter that his lawyers John Rowley and Jim Trusty sent to the Attorney General asking for a meeting.
728
475
2,141
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump made a video appearance in a New York courtroom on Tuesday where the judge tentatively scheduled the former president’s trial for March 25
27
112
634
Coming up on MSNBC at 6p ET to discuss new Guardian reporting on Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran’s notes in the Mar-a-Lago docs case — why they were so detailed and what Special Counsel finds most notable w/
6
64
279
Coming up with around 4:35p ET to discuss the Mar-a-Lago docs investigation and our reporting on Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran’s notes that got turned over to the grand jury
18
97
According to new reporting by , DOJ now has notes from Trump’s lawyer showing Trump was told it was illegal to retain classified documents. That could be the evidence of willfulness they need.
117
883
3,090
New: Bipartisan group of eight former federal and Georgia state prosecutors file amicus brief opposing Trump motion to quash Fulton County special grand jury, per release — democracy21.org/wp-content/upl
23
638
2,150
. with a solid scoop. Adds to the burgeoning pile, but Smith obviously wants to use the Grand Jury for all it's worth before seeking charges in the MAL case.
Trump was warned about retaining classified documents, notes reveal
20
227
796
“Prosecutors have fixated on Trump’s valet Walt Nauta, after he told the justice department that Trump told him to move boxes out of the storage room before and after the subpoena. The activity was captured on subpoenaed surveillance footage, though there were gaps in the tapes.… Show more
Quote Tweet
Prosecutors have evidence “Trump was put on notice that he could not retain any classified documents after he was subpoenaed for their return…Corcoran [also] described Trump’s facial expressions and reactions whenever they discussed the subpoena”
theguardian.com/us-news/2023/m
278
2,122
9,636
90
161
565
At issue for DOJ in the notes:
— Trump’s valet had advance knowledge about subpoena, bc he had keys to storage room
— Storage room may have been left unattended during the search when lawyer took breaks
— Trump’s facial reactions to subpoena discussions
theguardian.com/us-news/2023/m
37
446
1,716
Show this thread
Warning to Trump was one of several key moments lawyer Evan Corcoran detailed in roughly 50 pages notes that also repeatedly raised Trump’s valet Walt Nauta — himself at the criminal investigation for moving boxes out of the storage room at Mar-a-Lago. theguardian.com/us-news/2023/m
11
407
1,680
Show this thread
Mon. guest list: Jonathan Lemire, Katty Kay, Richard Haass, Ed Luce, Rev. Al Sharpton, John Williams, Hugo Lowell, Joyce Vance, Adm. James Stavridis, ctd...
44
16
99
Coming up around 7a ET to discuss new Guardian reporting in the Mar-a-Lago docs investigation
18
29
206
4
29
146
Coming up shortly to discuss when to expect charges in the Fulton County DA’s investigation into Trump’s 2020 election interference
1
17
121
9
20
63
NEW: Fulton County district attorney investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia signalled that charges may come starting the final week of July, telling staff yesterday to prepare to work remotely during that period.
177
1,177
4,000
New: Andrea Griswold will be the Deputy US Attorney for SDNY and Margaret Garnett will be Special Counsel to the US Attorney for SDNY Damian Williams, per release.
2
46
169
Parlatore has been frustrated with Boris Epshteyn for a long time and went down with Jim Trusty to Mar-a-Lago weeks ago to ask Trump that Boris be cut out of the MAL docs case. But Boris, a longtime trusted adviser to Trump, ended up outlasting him.
26
235
1,082
Show this thread
New: Trump lawyer Tim Parlatore last night told Trump he was resigning from the legal team, per people familiar, in the wake of a letter to Congress he co-drafted and the culmination of weeks of frustrations over how he felt he was hamstrung. CNN first reported departure.
46
429
2,429
Show this thread
ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia prosecutor investigating whether Donald Trump and his allies broke any laws as they tried to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state fought back Monday against the former president’s attempt to remove her from the case and exclude certain evidence.
13
116
504
Senate Intel Republicans concluded FBI was justified in investigating Trump-Russia, DOJ Inspector General concluded FBI was justified in investigating Trump-Russia, Durham concluded FBI should have done a Preliminary Investigation before considering investigating Trump-Russia
Quote Tweet
the Senate Intelligence Committee spent 3.5 years reviewing millions of documents and interviewing hundreds of witnesses and concluded the FBI had ample cause for concern in 2016. SSCI was led by Republicans at the time
Show this thread
38
553
1,333
1 Durham Report is in. After four years, review of 1 million documents, 490 interviews, his conclusion is that FBI should have opened a preliminary investigation (PI) instead of a full investigation (FI) in 2016. THREAD
1,576
8,542
18.6K
Show this thread
People forget but there were a LOT of crazy details about the Russian effort to help Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton in the Senate Intelligence Committee report.
Quote Tweet
“We uncorked a tiny bottle of champagne ... took one gulp each and looked into each other’s eyes .... We uttered almost in unison: ‘We made America great’”
-- Operative at Kremlin-directed IRA after Trump won the election, per Senate Intel report
bloomberg.com/news/articles/Show this thread
23
216
512
New: Special counsel John Durham found no evidence that the DOJ and FBI conspired in a deep-state plot to investigate Trump’s ties to Russia in 2016, though the report found the FBI’s handling of key aspects of the case were deficient.
44
181
463
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump called into an event hosted by his former national security adviser Michael Flynn over the weekend, telling his ex-adviser, “We’re going to bring you back.”
33
77
221
New: Fulton County DA Fani Willis asks court to deny Trump’s motion — joined by fake elector Cathy Latham — to quash the special grand jury report, saying Trump failed to demonstrate how exactly the grand jury was tainted and that the arguments are vague. s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2381
6
361
1,168
Dunphy asked Giuliani for the name of the HR director… Giuliani said he did not have a HR dept and bragged that no one would ever sue him because he was connected to President Trump, and he had private investigators who would punish anyone who complained
3
60
239
Show this thread