FBI returns property seized during Mar-a-Lago raid to Trump
The FBI is returning the property seized during the 2022 raid of Mar-a-Lago to President Trump, according to the White House.
'The FBI is giving the President his property back that was taken during the unlawful and illegal raids. We are taking possession of the boxes today and loading them onto Air Force One,' White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement on Friday.
Cheung added that some of the boxes were loaded onto the plane before Trump's Friday flight back to Florida.
Alina Habba, the president's counselor, said Friday that she loaded some of the 'infamous' boxes herself onto Air Force 1.
'Justice has been and will continue to be restored in this country under President Trump. TRUTH AND JUSTICE ALWAYS WIN IN THE END. God Bless America,' she said in a Friday post on X.
The FBI took 33 boxes during the August 2022 court-authorized search of Mar-a-Lago as part of a probe into Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents and alleged obstruction of officials' efforts to get them back.
The raid prompted heavy criticism of the FBI by Trump and his allies. The president characterized it as unnecessary. He was contacted prior to the raid by the Justice Department (DOJ) and the National Archives to return the records.
Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland tapped Special Counsel Jack Smith to investigate whether Trump mishandled classified records. The case ended up being dismissed by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in mid-July last year, saying in the ruling that Smith's appointment was unconstitutional.
'The Special Counsel's position effectively usurps that important legislative authority, transferring it to a Head of Department, and in the process threatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers,' Cannon wrote in the 93-page ruling.
Trump said some of the boxes the DOJ gave back will be in his future presidential library.
'They [boxes] are being brought down to Florida and will someday be part of the Trump Presidential Library. Justice finally won out. I did absolutely nothing wrong. This was merely an attack on a political opponent that, obviously, did not work well,' he said Friday on Truth Social. 'Justice in our Country will now be restored.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
24 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Stocks Calm on Mideast De-Escalation Reports
Get a jump start on the US trading day with Matt Miller, Katie Greifeld and Sonali Basak on "Bloomberg Open Interest." Relative calm returned to global markets, with stocks climbing and oil sinking as fears subsided that Israel's war against Iran would escalate into a wider conflict. And President Trump's family unveils a new Trump-branded mobile phone service called "T1 Mobile" that will rely on pre-existing wireless networks and hardware. And is manufacturing coming back to the US? We'll talk to the CEO of the manufacturing company Flex on what could be a factory revival in North America. (Source: Bloomberg)
Chicago Tribune
25 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Gov. JB Pritzker says he wasn't among Midwest officials on alleged Minnesota shooter's lists
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Monday his name was not among those of Midwestern officials kept on lists by the 57-year-old man charged with assassinating the Democratic leader of the Minnesota House and her husband. Pritzker, who was in Minnesota on Friday for a state Democratic Party fundraiser, made the comments about 12 hours after Minnesota law enforcement officials confirmed late Sunday the alleged shooter, Vance Boelter, had information that featured public officials in other states, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois. 'There is not a hit list that has Illinois politicians on it,' said Pritzker, who told reporters he'd been in touch with the head of the FBI's Chicago office as well as Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. In addition to a list of about 70 names found in Boelter's vehicle before he was apprehended on Sunday night, there was 'a hodgepodge of names that were put together, but not, as I have been told, a hit list of any sort,' Pritzker said. 'As I understand, I was not on that list,' the governor said. Pritzker said there were 'Illinois folks' listed but the governor did not provide any names of who those Illinois politicians were. 'The FBI specifically said to me that these people are not targets, and they certainly, now that he has been apprehended … they're not concerned about those people being targeted in any way whatsoever,' Pritzker said. A spokesman for Illinois Senate President Don Harmon had no immediate comment on whether the Oak Park Democrat's name or those of any state Senate Democrats appeared on any such list. A spokesman for Illinois House Speaker Emanuel 'Chris' Welch said there was no indication the Hillside Democrat was among those named. But Welch spokesman Jon Maxson said he understood some House Democrats' names were found on some documents among Boelter's possessions. Maxson said there will be a more formal briefing from the Illinois State Police for any lawmakers concerned about their security. A spokeswoman for the Illinois State Police said the agency 'is communicating with individuals in Illinois whose names were on one of the lists found' among Boelter's possessions. 'The information the shooter had accumulated, potentially in paper and electronic form, was filled with inaccuracies and needs to be put into the appropriate context before being shared with the individuals being referenced, and has been in the process of being vetted overnight by ISP special agent,' Illinois State Police spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said Monday morning in an emailed response to questions. She said she had no other information to provide at that time. At a separate news conference Monday after federal charges were filed against Boelter, Joseph Thompson, the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, said it was 'clear from the evidence that he's been planning these attacks for quite some time.' 'There's voluminous writings, as you've seen in the reporting, that were found both in his car and his house, about his planning, lists of names and individuals,' Thompson said. 'In terms of the why, it's unclear.' In addition to being charged in the deaths of state House Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, Boelter allegedly also shot and injured Democratic Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in the early morning hours Saturday.
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
G7 leaders seek to contain Israel-Iran conflict
The Group of Seven summit has begun in Canada with world leaders scrambling to contain the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, with US President Donald Trump reiterating his call for the two countries to start negotiating. "They should talk, and they should talk immediately," he told reporters. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said all G7 leaders agree they "have to find a way to de-escalate the situation" in the Middle East because the Israel-Iran conflict risks inflaming the "tinderbox" of the Gaza Strip and hurting the global economy. Starmer said he had spoken to Trump about the issue, adding "the risk of the conflict escalating is obvious, I think, and the implications, not just for the region but globally, are really immense, so the focus has to be on de-escalation". .@POTUS is officially welcomed by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to the G7 Summit — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 16, 2025 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters on Monday ahead of the summit beginning in the Canadian Rocky Mountains that Germany is planning to draw up a final communique proposal on the Israel-Iran conflict that will stress that "Iran must under no circumstances be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons-capable material". But as Trump met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, he also stressed it was a mistake to remove Russia from the organisation in 2014 and doing so had destabilised the world. He also suggested it could be a good idea to add China to the G7. The US president also seemed to put a greater priority on his planned emphasis on addressing his grievances with other countries' trade policies. "Our primary focus will be trade," Trump said of his talks with Carney. This year's G7 summit is full of combustible tensions and it is unclear how the gathered world leaders can work together to resolve them. Trump already has hit several dozen countries with severe tariffs that risk a global economic slowdown. There is little progress on settling the wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, and now a new conflict between Israel and Iran. "We're gathering at one of those turning points in history," Carney said. "The world's more divided and dangerous." But as the news media was escorted from the opening session, Carney could be heard as he turned to Trump and referenced how his remarks about the Middle East, Russia and China had already drawn attention to the summit. "Mr President, I think you've answered a lot of questions already," Carney said. Trump wants to focus on trade although he may have to balance those issues with the broader need by the G7 countries - which also include France, Italy and Japan - to project a united front. Leaders who are not part of the G7 but have been invited to the summit by Carney include the heads of state of Australia, India, Ukraine, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates. The G7 briefly expanded to the G8 with Russia as a member, only for Russia to be expelled in 2014 after annexing Crimea and taking a foothold in Ukraine that preceded its 2022 invasion of the country.
