One of former President Donald Trump‘s attorneys, Alina Habba, prompted significant questions during an interview Wednesday about who was privy to stolen government documents in the months before the FBI‘s August raid on Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.
Habba, who has aided the former president in litigation over New York Attorney General Letitia James’s investigation into his private business dealings, appeared on Fox News’s Hannity Wednesday and said she had “firsthand knowledge” of Trump’s Florida home. She previously told a New York state court that she conducted a “diligent” search of Trump’s private residence that included “all desks, drawers, nightstands, dressers, closets, etc” in early May, according to court records.
“I do have firsthand knowledge, as you know. I’m down there frequently,” Habba told Sean Hannity Wednesday evening.
WHO IS CHRISTINA BOBB? DOJ SUGGESTS EVIDENCE OF OBSTRUCTION BY TRUMP COUNSEL
Habba was attempting to downplay online public reactions to a recent photo included in a Justice Department filing Tuesday that showed classified documents strewn across the floor of Trump’s home.
“This is not the way his office looks. They give you this appearance that you walk in and there’s these top-secret documents just strewn about,” Habba said, seeking to clarify that the photo of documents was not a depiction of the way they were found by federal agents at Mar-a-Lago.
The FBI has said the documents in the photo of papers strewn across the floor were initially found in a container.
But the DOJ’s court filing clarified that “classified documents were found in both the Storage Room and in the former President’s office,” adding that three classified documents were not located in boxes, “but rather were located in the desks in the ‘45 Office.’”
During a June 3 meeting at Mar-a-Lago, attorneys for Trump gave investigators a “single Redweld envelope” with documents sought by the DOJ, but the agency later came to believe that Trump’s team withheld and concealed several additional classified documents, which prompted the Aug. 8 FBI search warrant at Trump’s estate.
Trump’s attorney Christina Bobb signed a sworn statement to the DOJ in June that there were no government documents at Mar-a-Lago, two people familiar with the matter told CNN at the time, though the statement would appear to contradict the facts and has raised further questions among legal experts as to how the documents were not found by Trump’s team in light of such “diligent” searches of the premises earlier this year.
In addition to Habba’s striking comments on Wednesday, she also noted Trump “frequently” had guests in the office where the documents were found by federal authorities. She was also one of several legal representatives who floated concerns during media interviews that the FBI might have “planted” evidence, a claim that has not yet been raised in court filings.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Trump has contended he had a “standing order” throughout his presidency that “documents removed from the Oval Office and taken to the residence were deemed to be declassified the moment he removed them.” Several former Trump administration officials have cast doubt on that notion.
The Washington Examiner contacted Habba for a response.
