Former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush suggested that a member of the Secret Service could be the mole in the Mar-a-Lago raid who reported Trump for hiding top secret documents because they ” have the responsibility to report a crime”. .’
Karl Rove, 71, theorized that a member of the Secret Service ratted on the former president because they were “sworn law enforcement agencies” and had a responsibility to report it if they saw the materials Trump’s lawyers allegedly claimed , they do not exist.
“The Secret Service – and this is my personal guess, I have no information other than that the Secret Service is there – they have no legal responsibility for classified material, but they are sworn federal justice officers, they are law enforcement agencies. And they have a responsibility to report a crime,” he told Fox News.
“Especially after a letter was sent from one of the president’s attorneys that said, ‘We no longer have classified material.’
He also claimed that when Trump claimed he had no classified documents, the National Archives, which deals with classified material, were probably already suspicious because the archives could see which documents were proven and which were missing.
Karl Rove, 71, theorized that a member of the Secret Service ratted on Trump because they were “certified law enforcement agencies” and were responsible for reporting a crime. “You have no legal responsibility for classified material…[but] You are responsible for reporting a crime,” he said
Rove was Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush (pictured together). He became critical of Trump after the January 6 riot
“If someone sent a letter saying we had no classified material and someone from Intelligence said ‘I still saw classified material in the walls of Mar-a-Lago’ and had the responsibility to report it through the chain Commanders… You would have someone who would have said, essentially, “You have been misled, whether it was a willful lie or a lie based on ignorance, someone told you that there is no longer classified material here – here is classified material.” material,” he told Fox News.
Rove said he doesn’t understand why Trump “would hold on to these materials if he didn’t have legal authority to do so under the Presidential Records Act is beyond me.”
“The Presidential Records Act is clear,” he said. “A president does not have the right to leave the White House and choose which documents to take with him.
“He can ask for copies, but these are the property of the American people, and no president has picked and selected his own documents since 1978.”
The National Archives first contacted Trump about the documents in May 2021. Trump’s legal team responded that they had 12 boxes that would be removed later that year.
However, when the agency came to remove them, they left a total of 15 boxes. Inside the boxes were “184 unique documents with classification marks,” including 25 marked top secret, the affidavit said.
The Justice Department on Friday released a heavily redacted affidavit showing the government’s justifications for the August raid on Mar-a-Lago. The affidavit details the amount of classified or classified information that was held at the private club for more than a year.
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home was searched Aug. 8 and authorities found 15 boxes of documents containing 184 files, 25 of which were marked top secret
Rove also claimed that the National Archives – which deals with classified material – probably became suspicious by the time Trump claimed he had no documents. Rove said the archives would know how many documents were found and how many were missing, although Trump’s lawyer said they didn’t have any
The affidavit describes the classification markings seen by agents after a lengthy letter dispute with Trump’s attorneys to gain access to the 15 boxes of materials.
A “preliminary review” revealed that agents saw documents labeled “HCS, FISA, ORCON, NORORN and SI.” Each acronym refers to a different type of information that needs to be shielded by the government in a specific way.
The affidavit also states that the footage was accompanied by “handwritten notes” by the President himself.
“President Trump has said several times all you have to do is ask. Well, I get the impression they asked for a year and a half,” Rove said on Fox.
Rove, who was critical of Trump after the Jan. 6 riot, also said the affidavit does not clarify how many times the administration has asked the former president to return the documents.
“So, you know, maybe we should ask the government how many times you’ve asked for the material to be returned, and President Trump has said several times, ‘All they had to do was ask.’
Earlier this week, Trump said he plans to file a legal motion in response to the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago in early August, claiming his Fourth Amendment rights had been violated. The Fourth Amendment stipulates that a search of a person’s home is not legal unless there is good cause.
In a series of posts on Truth Social last week, the former president denounced the break-in at his Florida home after law enforcement seized the boxes of classified files he allegedly took after leaving office.
“Never in the history of our country has there been a time when law enforcement has been so viciously and violently involved in the life and times of our nation’s politics,” Trump wrote.
The president made the announcement on Truth Social, calling the raid a “witch hunt.”
“A major Fourth Amendment motion is about to be filed concerning the illegal break-in of my home, Mar-a-Lago, just before the increasingly important midterm elections.
“My rights, along with the rights of all Americans, have been violated on a scale rarely seen before in our country,” he added.
It’s the latest in Trump’s battle with the FBI, as former running mate Mike Pence said he didn’t remove classified material after serving as vice president.
Two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News’ Robert Costa that Trump’s application would be filed in the coming days and would seek the appointment of a “special master” to review the evidence collected by the FBI on March 8.
