JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Mary. (Diya TV) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has returned items that were earlier seized in a 2022 raid of his Mar-a-Lago estate to President Donald Trump. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung confirmed on Friday that the items were being loaded onto Air Force One for travel to Florida.
The initial search in August 2022 was included in a federal probe into Trump’s management of classified documents upon leaving office. Agents took several boxes of different personal items and sensitive documents. Trump denounced the search as political, being outraged by the FBI’s actions, including the invasion of his safe.
In July 2024, District Court Judge Aileen Cannon threw the case out on constitutional grounds, holding that the appointment of the special counsel violated the Appointments Clause. This move effectively ended the government’s pursuit of charges over the classified documents.
The recovered items, which were carried aboard Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, are being transported to Mar-a-Lago. Trump had promised to make these materials a part of his presidential library, writing on social media, “The Department of Justice has just returned the boxes. Justice finally won out.”
This move represents a major shift in the long-running court fight over the management of presidential records, ending almost three years of court battles and establishing significant precedents about executive privilege and the handling of classified documents.
