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Exclusive: How a box with classified documents ended up in Trump’s office months after FBI searched Mar-a-Lago | CNN Politics

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2 years ago

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Exclusive: How a box with classified documents ended up in Trump’s office months after FBI searched Mar-a-Lago | CNN Politics


Washington
CNN
 — 

The Justice Division desires to understand how a field containing a handful of categorised data scattered amongst copies of presidential schedules turned up at Mar-a-Lago late final 12 months, properly after a number of rounds of searches of the property by federal brokers and aides to former President Donald Trump, in keeping with folks aware of the matter.

Investigators working for particular counsel Jack Smith in current weeks have interviewed a Trump aide who copied categorised supplies discovered within the field utilizing her telephone to place them onto a laptop computer. After a voluntary interview with the aide, prosecutors subpoenaed the password to the laptop computer, which she offered, in keeping with one of many sources.

The categorised paperwork contained within the field had been found in December, after the Justice Division informed Trump’s authorized staff to conduct yet one more seek for paperwork at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

Individuals aware of the Trump authorized staff’s efforts to find paperwork describe a complicated chain of occasions that delayed discovery of the field, together with having its contents uploaded to the cloud, emailed to a Trump worker, and moved to an offsite location earlier than lastly ending up again at a Mar-a-Lago bridal suite that’s now Trump’s workplace – the very place that the FBI had searched simply weeks earlier.

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Trump’s authorized staff has acknowledged in current weeks they turned over to the particular counsel the field and a laptop computer containing its scanned contents. However prosecutors have continued asking why it wasn’t given to the Justice Division earlier, and what if any function or data Trump might have had about its actions, sources mentioned

The odyssey of the field has been a current focus of Smith’s investigation into the mishandling of categorised paperwork at Mar-a-Lago, in keeping with folks aware of the road of questioning from federal prosecutors. The haphazard dealing with of paperwork that ended up on-line, on computer systems and moved round to a number of places may additional complicate Trump’s case in an investigation with prison implications.

One one who described the field’s actions and the particular counsel’s inquiry into it described federal investigators as suspecting a “shell sport with categorised paperwork.” The individual mentioned Trump’s every day actions and directions to workers are a core a part of prosecutors’ questions as properly.

Tim Parlatore, an legal professional for Trump, mentioned in an interview with CNN earlier this month that the aide had not seen the categorised markings.

“After we did the search in December and located inside this field of 1000’s that there have been a few pages that had slightly marking on the backside, which we turned over, after that, we came upon that she had scanned the field in order that it will be digitized,” Parlatore mentioned. “She had no concept that there was any classification markings on something. And as quickly as we came upon about that, we referred to as up the DOJ to allow them to know and instantly offered them entry to it.”

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A spokesman for the particular counsel’s workplace declined to remark.

Within the fall of 2021, a longtime Trump staffer on the White Home and Mar-a-Lago initially despatched the field to a lower-level Trump aide, who has been employed by the previous president since he left workplace. The staffer needed copies of presidential schedules within the field to be scanned.

The aide took the field to Mar-a-Lago’s “tennis cottage,” the place she labored. No scanning machine was accessible there for the aide to make use of, so she turned the paperwork into scanned information utilizing an Adobe software on her telephone, importing them to a Trump-owned laptop computer, in keeping with folks aware of the matter.

As she labored by means of the 1000’s of pages over a number of days, she didn’t discover there have been categorised paperwork among the many presidential data, the folks mentioned.

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In November 2021, after the contents within the field had been scanned, the field was moved to an workplace in downtown Palm Seaside funded by the Normal Companies Administration, the folks mentioned.

The field remained there even after Trump’s staff gave 15 containers containing categorised and different federal data to the Nationwide Archives in January 2022. The Justice Division then subpoenaed for the return of all categorised data in Trump’s possession in Could 2022, and his attorneys handed over some extra paperwork to Justice Division investigators who visited Mar-a-Lago and toured the house in an try to reclaim extra paperwork in June.

The FBI then searched Mar-a-Lago in August whereas Trump was at his golf membership in Bedminster, New Jersey, retrieving greater than 100 data marked as categorised in sure rooms on the membership, together with a bridal suite transformed into Trump’s workplace and different places the place containers had been stored.

However this specific field was on the Palm Seaside workplace throughout that search. When Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago final fall, alongside together with his aide, the field was retrieved from the Palm Seaside workplace and dropped at the bridal suite at Mar-a-Lago the place the aide was now working alongside Trump in a brand new function, folks aware of the matter mentioned.

In November on the behest of the Justice Division, Trump’s authorized staff employed two folks to go looking 4 extra places for categorised paperwork: Bedminster, Trump Tower in New York, a storage unit in Florida and the Palm Seaside workplace the place the field had been for almost a 12 months.

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Throughout these searches, two extra categorised paperwork had been discovered within the storage unit, which they handed over to prosecutors.

Trump’s staff had hoped their searches in November – and assertions in writing that they’ve scoured Trump’s properties and handed over all categorised data – put to relaxation prosecutors’ considerations.

The Trump attorneys argued that the FBI had already searched Mar-a-Lago in August. However the Justice Division demanded that Trump attorneys additionally do one other search of the property themselves as they threatened to carry Trump in contempt.

Through the December search of Mar-a-Lago, the field containing the handful of categorised paperwork intermingled with Trump’s presidential schedules was finally found, in keeping with the folks aware of the search efforts.

“When the staff discovered the field, it was initially believed that the FBI had merely missed it throughout the search warrant. However upon additional investigation, the authorized staff found that an aide had moved it as a part of her job operate,” one supply mentioned.

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By that time, the field had been moved right into a closet within the suite the place Trump marketing campaign memorabilia was saved, the folks mentioned. Trump’s attorneys then turned over the field to the Justice Division.

In current weeks, prosecutors secured grand jury testimony from the 2 folks employed to go looking Trump’s properties final fall and have been pursuing solutions from his attorneys.

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US looks to make headway on Trump’s ceasefire hopes as Russia talks open in Saudi Arabia | CNN

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17 minutes ago

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March 24, 2025

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US looks to make headway on Trump’s ceasefire hopes as Russia talks open in Saudi Arabia | CNN



CNN
 — 

A United States delegation led by real estate tycoon-turned-diplomat Steve Witkoff has begun a high-stakes meeting with Kremlin negotiators in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the Trump administration is pushing for a ceasefire in separate talks with Russia and Ukraine.

Russia’s TASS news agency reported that talks were underway on Monday morning, citing an unnamed source.

The meeting comes one day after talks between a US team led by President Donald Trump’s Kyiv envoy, Keith Kellogg, and Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, which was described by the latter as “productive and focused.”

While many watching from Washington, and across Europe, will hope some initial positivity can be translated into a 30-day ceasefire and longer-term negotiations, a wide gulf in expectations exists between Russia, Ukraine and their US interlocutors.

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A barrage of Russian drone attacks killed at least six in Ukraine over the weekend, including young families. Moscow accuses Ukraine of recent hits on gas and oil facilities in Kursk and Krasnodar despite its offer to halt attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

The Russian delegation at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Riyadh includes seasoned Kremlin diplomat Grigory Karasin and former spy chief Sergey Beseda, according to Russian state media. Beseda is viewed by many in Ukraine as a hard-nosed nationalist and early supporter of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The trust deficit on the Ukrainian side has not been helped by Witkoff’s recent rhetorical support for many of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s maximalist positions ahead of talks. Speaking to podcast host Tucker Carlson on Sunday, Witkoff appeared to show some sympathy toward Russia’s territorial ambitions in Ukraine, describing the four regions Russia wants to formally annex — Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk — as “Russian speaking.”

“There have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule,” he said.

Russia held the referendums in occupied areas of the four territories in September 2022. The votes were widely viewed as a sham and heavily criticized by the US at the time as well as by allies in Europe.

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“The Russians are de facto in control of these territories. The question is: Will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories?” Witkoff asked Sunday. “Can (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky survive politically if he acknowledges this? This is the central issue in the conflict.”

Moscow says a ceasefire will not be possible unless Kyiv agrees not to use it to resupply or reorganize its troops. It has also publicly voiced key demands such as Ukraine never being allowed to join NATO.

Speaking Sunday night, Zelensky put the responsibility on Putin to end the war.

“The one who brought this war must take it away,” he said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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Murphy, Eagle Who Became a Foster Dad, Found Dead After Storm

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9 hours ago

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March 23, 2025

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Murphy, Eagle Who Became a Foster Dad, Found Dead After Storm

Murphy, the beloved bald eagle who became a real foster father in 2023 after weeks spent incubating a rock, was found dead in his enclosure at a bird sanctuary in Missouri this month after a fierce storm pummeled the region on March 14, his keepers said last week.

In a statement posted to social media, officials at the World Bird Sanctuary, a reserve in Valley Park, Mo., about 22 miles southwest of St. Louis, said that a full necropsy showed that Murphy, 33, had sustained “some form of trauma to his head.” The sanctuary said that it was unclear if the bird had been “spooked by something and hit his head while jumping off a perch or if wind and precipitation played a part in the injury.”

Murphy had experienced “countless storms” over the years without issue, the sanctuary said. The sanctuary said that all of its birds had access to shelters to protect themselves from severe weather, and that the storm on March 14, which killed 12 people in Missouri, had not required any bird evacuations since no tornadoes approached the facility.

“While we do everything that we can to keep our birds safe,” the statement added, “accidents outside of our control can happen.”

Roger Holloway, the sanctuary’s executive director, said in an interview on Sunday that although strong winds and some hail had struck the sanctuary, neither Murphy’s enclosure nor the other eagles inside it appeared to have been affected. One possibility is that Murphy had been knocked on the head by a hailstone, Mr. Holloway said.

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Murphy, who could not fly, had lived at the sanctuary since the 1990s. He gained international fame about two years ago after his keepers — noticing his tenacity and dedication to a small, meteorite-shaped rock upon which he brooded — entrusted him with a real charge: A tiny eaglet that had fallen from a tree in a storm and was in dire need of a parent. He was the only bald eagle that has ever been a foster parent at the sanctuary.

Murphy rose to the challenge, responding to the chick’s peeps, protecting it and tearing a whole fish into smaller pieces that the eaglet could eat. Though Murphy, who had wing damage, could not teach the eaglet to fly or hunt, he proved to be a devoted dad. His story inspired memes, illustrations and a plush toy, and also won him scores of fans worldwide.

Murphy’s eaglet grew strong and was eventually released into the wild, according to the sanctuary. So keepers gave him another eaglet to foster. That second bird is still in the sanctuary’s care, the sanctuary said, and is progressing toward release by this summer.

“Murphy helped him to really get to the end point of growing up,” Mr. Holloway said of the second eaglet, noting that the elder bird helped the younger one “to know he was an eagle.”

“All Murphy had to do was sit there and look like an eagle and eat and preen and just do what eagles do,” Mr. Holloway said.

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As Murphy’s keepers mourned his loss, they said, they also felt grateful for the several years he had lived beyond a bald eagle’s typical life span, which is 20 to 25 years.

“His resilience, spirit, and dedication as a foster dad touched the hearts of millions of people throughout the world,” the sanctuary said in its statement, adding, “We are devastated by this loss.”

The World Bird Sanctuary said it had learned a lot by observing Murphy with his eaglets, which were the first it had received in more than a decade. The center has since designed special aviaries “to serve the specific needs of injured and orphaned raptors.” The sanctuary said it plans to name that facility “Murphy’s Manor” in his honor.

“Birds of prey are apex predators,” Mr. Holloway said, “but they have that tender side too.”

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Singapore’s luxury car sales plummet after money-laundering scandal

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11 hours ago

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March 23, 2025

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Singapore’s luxury car sales plummet after money-laundering scandal

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Luxury car sales in Singapore have plummeted as buyers shun ostentatious displays of wealth after the government raised taxes on the vehicles and stepped up due diligence checks in response to a $2bn money-laundering scandal.

The number of new Bentley, Ferrari, Jaguar and Rolls-Royce models sold in the city-state dropped by as much as three-quarters last year compared with 2023, as wealthy buyers shunned luxury brands following a damaging money-laundering case in which police seized scores of flashy vehicles.

“Most of the luxury cars bought in recent years were by Chinese customers,” said Anson Lee, managing director of luxury car dealership Euro Performance Asia. “Following the scandal, you are now seeing the market stagnate.

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“I still have Chinese customers, but they want to keep a low profile, so the whole market has slowed down,” said Lee, adding that his customers increasingly preferred electric vehicles.

EV sales have rocketed, particularly for Chinese manufacturer BYD, which was the second top-selling car brand in Singapore last year after only entering the market in 2020.

BYD sales hit 6,191 in 2024, a fourfold increase on the year before, while Tesla sales more than doubled to 2,384, according to figures from the Land Transport Authority.

At the same time, new Rolls-Royce sales dropped from 95 to 23 last year, while the figure for Ferrari fell from 97 to 29. The number of new Jaguars nearly halved to 27, while Bentley sales fell to 25 from 58.

Bentley attributed the decline to the run-out of existing models, with new versions of the Continental GT and Flying Spur entering the market only at the start of this year. It expects sales to improve with the availability of the new cars.

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Jaguar, Ferrari and Rolls-Royce declined to comment.

Singapore has seen an influx of wealth in recent years, especially from Chinese nationals, as it competes to be Asia’s premier asset and wealth management hub, but the ambitions have also come with risk.

The city-state was rocked two years ago by a money-laundering case involving individuals linked to a gang from China’s Fujian province. During raids on properties across the island, police seized 77 vehicles.

At one property, four cars with a combined value of S$4.7mn (US$3.5mn) were confiscated, including a red Rolls-Royce Dawn, a black Rolls-Royce Cullinan, a red Porsche 911 Targa and a white Toyota Alphard.

“You see a lot fewer red Rolls-Royces cruising around Singapore these days,” said a person involved in the case in which 10 individuals have been sentenced.

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A red Rolls-Royce is loaded on to a flatbed tow truck in front of a modern building, with several people, including a police officer, observing and documenting the scene
Police seize a red Rolls-Royce Dawn at the residence of one of the suspects in Singapore’s $2bn money-laundering case in October 2023 © Ore Huiying/Bloomberg

Dealers said one of the reasons for the decline in new luxury vehicles was that the confiscated cars were being sold back to the market. Singapore’s justice minister, K Shanmugam, said last month that the government had so far sold 33 of the seized cars.

In response to the scandal, Singapore’s government ordered luxury car dealers, property agents and gemstone sellers to check sources of financing for their most expensive products and report buyers they suspected of having criminal links.

“We have [always had] to do our due diligence on customers, but this has become more sensitive because of the money-laundering case,” said Lee.

Luxury car sales have also been hit by a higher tax introduced in 2023 to cool what the government perceived as an overheated market coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Taxes on the most expensive cars — those priced above S$80,000 — rose to 320 per cent from 220 per cent. The government also introduced changes to limit the resale value of cars.

Another consideration for buyers is the cost of certificates of entitlement, which residents must obtain before they are allowed to purchase a car. The prices are based on a bidding system to control the number of vehicles on the road.

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For the most powerful models, the certificates currently cost just under S$117,000, up from S$96,000 a year ago but significantly below the S$150,000 pricetag in November 2023, reflecting a drop in demand for high-end vehicles.

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