Former President Trump early Friday dismissed CNN reporting that employees at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida may be called upon by federal prosecutors to testify in the upcoming criminal trial about classified documents.
“Fake News CNN just did a story, leaked by Deranged Prosecutor Jack Smith and his massive team of Radical Left Lunatics, that various people saw papers and boxes at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social. “Of course they did!”
"They may have been the boxes etc. that were openly and plainly brought from the White House, as is my right under the Presidential Records Act," he added.
CNN reported that a plumber, a maid, a chauffeur and a woodworker are among the workers who may be called to testify in the case against Trump over the former president's alleged mishandling of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
Unidentified sources told the network that witnesses may include members of Trump’s inner circle during his time in business and politics, Secret Service agents, former intelligence officials and the “workers rarely noticed” by the resort’s wealthy guests.
Trump in his Friday morning post called CNN's report “Breaking Fake News” and asked about the documents found at President Biden’s former office and home.
“But what about all of the papers, boxes, and documents found at NUMEROUS Crooked Joe Biden places, like his garage floor by his cherished Corvette, or CHINATOWN where it was just learned that boxes moved freely in and out,” Trump posted.
The former president also said Biden’s case “doesn’t come under the Presidential Records Act” because he wasn’t president at the time.
The Presidential Records Act requires the president to separate personal and official records before leaving office. The FBI found more than 300 classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in August 2022.
Trump on Friday also took another jab at special counsel Jack Smith and prosecutors, questioning why they were spending “over $100,000,000 investigating him” and how much they have spent investigating Biden “on his much bigger boxes deal.”
Trump's trial is set to begin in Florida in May 2024. Judge Aileen Cannon is considering postponing the trial until after the presidential election, which worries advocates who want the proceedings to happen before voters cast their ballots next year.
