Primary Documents
January 14, 2021: John Solomon Podcast bragging of detailed knowledge of what Russian investigation materials would be released in the coming days) described having newly obtained a January 20, 2021 Mark Meadows memo to DOJ instructing them to declassify documents from the Russian investigation.
On December 30, 2020, DOJ provided Trump a binder of material from the Russian investigation.
On January 8, 2021, Mike Ellis attempted to retain a compartmented NSA report for White House archives, initially refusing efforts to return it.
January 19, 2021: Trump letter to Archivist of the United States David Ferriero, FPOTUS designating (among others) Pasquale (Pat) Cipollone and Patrick Philbin as his representatives with the NARA
January 19, 2021: Trump order declassifying Russian investigation documents
January 20, 2021: Mark Meadows memo on declassification
March 2021: Nauta moves boxes to business center
April 5, 2021: Discussion about moving them out of business center
May 6, 2021: Gary Stern to Pat Philbin and others
May 2021: Move to storage room
May 2021: Trump takes boxes to Bedminster
June 24, 2021: Move to storage room (80 boxes)
July 21, 2021: Interview
August 2021: Nauta becomes body man
October 18, 2021: Trump lawsuit attempting to enjoin the Archives from complying with January 6 Committee subpoena
October 21, 2021: DOD IG report on Mike Ellis appointment, including discussion of his efforts to take sensitive NSA documents in January 2021
November 10, 2021: Judge Tanya Chutkan opinion denying Trump’s motion for an injunction against NARA
November 12, 2021: Employee 2 provides picture of docs
November 17, 2021: Nauta, picture of boxes?
November 25, 2021: Pictures of boxes
November 29, 2021: Could you bring up 4 more boxes?
December 7, 2021 Nauta texts picture of spilled doc (count 8)
December 9, 2021: DC Circuit order upholding Judge Chutkan’s decision releasing Trump records to the January 6 Committee
December 29, 2021: Would love to have a number to him — 12
January 13, 2022: Tracking boxes
January 15, 2022: Nauta I marked too much
January 17, 2022: Commercial truck to NARA
January 19, 2022: SCOTUS order upholding Chutkan’s decision
On January 31, 2022, NARA completed an initial inventory of the retrieved documents. It discovered over 100 documents with classification markings, comprising more than 700 pages. Some include the highest levels of classification, including Special Access Program (SAP) material.
February 9, 2022: Referral.
February 18, 2022: NARA to Carolyn Maloney
March 30, 2022: Open investigation.
April 11, 2022: FBI letterhead memorandum asks NARA for access to Trump documents
April 12, 2022: NARA informs Trump of access request
April 26, 2022: Grand jury
April 29, 2022: NSD to Evan Corcoran letter laying out NatSec urgency (not public)
April 29, 2022: Evan Corcoran letter to NARA asking for further delay (not public)
May 1, 2022: Evan Corcoran letter to NARA asking for further delay (not public)
May 3, 2022: Jennifer Little posts picture from Mar-a-Lago
May 4, 2022: Little posts additional picture from Mar-a-Lago
May 4, 2022: Alina Habba searches Bedminster
May 5, 2022: Habba searches Mar-a-Lago
May 5, 2022: Evan Corcoran asks for access to the Trump records for representatives (not public)
May 5, 2022: Kash Patel claims Trump mass declassified
May 10, 2022: Steidel Wall to Corcoran advising him she would give FBI access starting May 12
May 11, 2022: Subpoena
May 11, 2022: Bratt to Corcoran Subpoena Letter
May 22, 2022: Nauta retrieves box
May 23, 2022: Meeting with Corcoran
May 25, 2022: Corcoran to Bratt Letter (non-public, referenced here)
May 25, 2022: Corcoran to Bratt Letter laying out why Trump can’t be criminally investigated
June 3, 2022: Bobb Certification
June 17, 2022: Corcoran tells Gary Stern that Trump will make Kash Patel and John Solomon representatives to NARA on June 19 and they want access on June 21
June 19, 2022: Trump letter to NARA making Kash Patel and John Solomon representatives
June 22, 2022: Kash Patel announces he has been named Trump’s representative at NARA; John Solomon asks Stern for Russia binder
June 23, 2022: Stern explains that Meadows didn’t declassify the Russian docs, as discovered when Justin Clark made same request previous fall (probably September 2021)
June 24, 2022: Subpoena for surveillance video; call with Evan Corcoran
July 10-12, 2022: Trump returns to MAL
July 12, 2022: Kash tries to get clearance by insisting he has clearance
July 14, 2022: Stern sends Meadows memo a second time
July 20, 2022: John Solomon claims to have recently received Mark Meadows memo declassifying RU materials
July 23, 2022: Trump returns to MAL
July 27, 2022: Last date of discussion (as published in Solomon lawsuit) about Kash’s clearance
August 5, 2022: Sealed search warrant affidavit (unsealed August 26); less redacted version (unsealed September 13); still less redacted (unsealed 7/5/23)
August 5, 2022: Warrant Application Cover Sheet
August 8, 2022: Search Warrant and Receipts
August 11, 2022: Solomon regurgitates story describing “cooperation” in June, including Secret Service involvement in June 3 meeting and aftermath
August 17, 2022: Last date of NARA correspondence included in Solomon exchange with NARA; Stern asks Solomon to tell Trump to stop lying
August 18, 2022: Unseal Additional Documents
August 22, 2022: JustTheNews posts the text of letter from Debra Steidal Wall to Trump
August 22, 2022: Motion for Special Master
August 25, 2022: List of Redactions
August 25, 2022: Proposed Redactions filing
August 29, 2022: First Emergency Request for Grand Jury Information; Order
August 29, 2022: Notice of Receipt of Preliminary Order
August 30, 2022: Government Response to Special Master Request; privilege status report (sealed until October 3); unredacted privilege logs (accidentally released)
August 30, 2022: Exhibits to Government Response, including letter from Debra Steidel Wall to Evan Corcoran
August 30, 2022: More Detailed Inventory; unsealed privilege inventory (accidentally unsealed October 3)
September 1, 2022: Transcript of Hearing before Judge Aileen Cannon
September 5, 2022: Cannon opinion in which she leaks details about substance of privilege review
September 8, 2022: DOJ motion to unseal Privilege Statuts Report
September 8, 2022: FBI Assistant Director of CI Alan Kohler Declaration
September 8, 2022: Motion for Stay of Injunction on Investigating Classified Documents
September 8, 2022: Motion to Unseal Privileged Status Report
September 9, 2022: Common plan for Special Master; Trump Special Master plan; Government Special Master plan
September 12, 2022: Trump response on motion for stay
September 13, 2022: DOJ reply on motion for stay
September 15, 2022: Cannon opinion denying stay; Cannon’s order of appointment; Raymond Dearie declaration
September 16, 2022: DOJ motion for a stay
September 19, 2022: DOJ topics for initial Dearie conference; Trump topics for initial Dearie conference
September 20, 2022: Trump 11th Circuit response; DOJ 11th Circuit reply
September 21, 2022: 11th Circuit opinion granting stay
September 22, 2022: Cannon order removing documents marked as classified from Seized Materials covered by her order; Dearie proposed work plan
September 23, 2022: Protective order; amended case management plan; motion for extension of time
September 25, 2022: Trump objections to Dearie ordered (released on September 28)
September 26, 2022: Sworn affidavit with more detailed inventory; Julie Edelstein
September 27, 2022: Dearie interim report; Staffing proposal; Government motion for extension and to adopt case management plan
September 28, 2022: Trump objection that DOJ didn’t ask for enough additional time
September 29, 2022: Cannon order alters Dearie work plan
September 30, 2022: DOJ motion to extradite 11th Circuit appeal
October 3, 2022; Trump response to 11th Circuit; motion to seal privilege log; original privilege status report unsealed
October 4, 2022: Trump SCOTUS appeal of part of 11th Circuit decision
October 5, 2022: Notice of Vendor Selection; Submission of designations of partially-privileged materials (sealed)
October 7, 2022: Order regarding filter materials
October 11, 2022: Update on scanning; DOJ response to Trump SCOTUS appeal
October 12, 2022: Spreadsheet matching Bates numbers with boxes; Notice of completion; Kash Patel invokes the Fifth Amendment
October 14, 2022: DOJ appeal to 11th Circuit
October 20, 2022: DOJ filing showing disputes between two sides; Trump filing unilaterally claiming extension until Monday
October 26, 2022: Kash Patel’s immunized testimony
November 9, 2022: Global issues briefs to Dearie (DOJ; Trump)
November 10, 2022: Trump response
November 12, 2022: Summary of disputes
November 17, 2022: DOJ reply brief to 11th Circuit
November 18, 2022: Jack Smith appointed
November 22, 2022: Trump motion for Judge Cannon to force DOJ to share the affidavit; 11th Circuit hearing Special Master
December 1, 2022: 11th Circuit vacates Special Master
December 8, 2022: DOJ moves for contempt
December 12, 2022: Aileen Cannon dismisses Trump’s Special Master order
January 4, 2023: Judge Howell orders Trump to turn over names of those who conducted search to DOJ
Early January, 2023: Evan Corcoran and Christina Bobb appear before grand jury
February 2, 2023: Tom Fitton appears before grand jury
March 17, 2023: Beryl Howell rules some Evan Corcoran and Jennifer Little communications crime-fraud excepted
March 22, 2022: CADC denies stay of challenge to crime-fraud designation
March 24, 2023: Evan Corcoran crime-fraud appearance before grand jury
June 8, 2023: US v. Trump and Nauta
June 21, 2023: Response discovery order
June 23, 2023: Motion to implement special conditions
July 6, 2023: Supplemental response discovery order
July 10, 2023: Defendants’ response motion for continuance
July 13, 2023: Government reply motion for continuance
July 17, 2023: Supplemental response discovery order
July 18, 2023: Status hearing (Lawfare); transcript
July 27, 2023: US v Trump, Nauta, and De Oliveira, renewed motion for a classified protective order
July 31, 2023: Supplemental response discovery order
emptywheel Posts
The Superseding Stolen Documents Indictment: Buying Loyalty
May 20, 2024: Aileen Cannon’s Still Not Totally Unreasonable Order
Poof! How Jack Smith Made 800,000 Pages into 4,500
Jay Bratt to Chris Kise: You Already Made that Frivolous Presidential Records Act Argument
Nine Months of Surveillance Video: Trump’s Newfound Worries His Discovery Will Leak
When “Lock Her Up!” becomes “Wait Till Later!”
Stanley Woodward Tests Judge Aileen Cannon’s Patience
Trump’s Stolen Documents: Newly Unsealed Numbers
Susie Wiles Named in A(nother?) Trump-Related Indictment
Aileen Cannon’s Not-Abnormal Orders
The Approach to Classification in Trump’s Stolen Document Case
Walt Nauta Testified to the Grand Jury before DOJ Obtained Surveillance Video
Aileen Cannon Issues Another Perfectly Routine Order
Filling the Surveillance Footage Gaps: Place and Payments
Aileen Cannon Did Something Normal
No Crime Alleged in the Mar-a-Lago Indictment Occurred in DC; Other Crimes Did
Down a Mouse Hole with Bill Clinton’s Cat, Socks
Republicans Demanded Independence for John Durham and Got Robert Hur and Jack Smith in the Bargain
Trump and Nauta’s Release Conditions
Expected Response Is Expected, Redux: Trump, Post-Arraignment (from Rayne)
Trump’s “Beautiful Mind Paper Boxes:” Jack Smith’s Points of Leverage
Trump Needs Cleared Lawyers, Not Just Any Lawyers
31 Flavors of Stolen Classified Documents
Mind the Gap: It Was the Musician, in the Storage Closet, with the Five Eyes Secrets
Jack Smith Knows his Justice Robert Jackson (from Peterr)
Hillary’s Revenge: Trump Promised Voters He Would Protect Classified Information
The Mar-a-Lago Indictment Is a Tactical Nuke
The Flavors of Trump’s Obstruction
Defendant-1’s 38 Count Indictment
Lock Him Up! Trump Charged with Crimes He Believes Candidates Can Be Charged With
Prosecutors Interviewing Witnesses Who Knew Trump Was Hoarding Documents
This Indictment Will Likely Come Too Early for Trump to Consolidate the Party
Dry Run: The Filing Room Came to Trump
NYT’s Pre-DOJ Meeting Attempted Rebuttal
The Dog Drained My Pool to Try to Destroy Surveillance Video
Tim Parlatore Quit After Trump Lawyers Couldn’t Find the Iran Document
In March, DOJ Asked Trump for the Iran Document; In April, DOJ Asked for His Saudi Business Records
Lordy, There Are Tapes [of Trump Acknowledging He Had Stolen Classified Documents]!
ABC Reports that Sources Familiar Say 2 + 2 = 5
The Potential International Grift Hiding behind the Stolen Documents Investigation
DOJ Subpoenaed Over Five Months of Mar-a-Lago Surveillance Video
Where the Trump Investigations Stand: Stolen Documents
“Lock Him Up!” Trump Calls on Congress to Halt the Criminal Investigation into Joe Biden
The Espionage Act Evidence WaPo Spins as Obstruction Evidence
Kash’s Castles of Scatter and Evan Corcoran’s BCC
Happy Crime-Fraud Exception Day, for Those Who Celebrate
Remember: DOJ May Still Suspect Trump Is Hoarding Classified Documents
Lordy, There Are [Transcribed] Tapes
Evan Corcoran: You’re the Next Contestant on Trump’s Crime-Fraud Reality Show
Trophy Documents: The Entire Point Was to Make FBI Obedient
Did Steven D’Antuono Make It Easier for Trump to Steal 47 Classified Documents?
Trump’s “Receptionist of the US” Deletes Her Trip to Russia
Pence’s Previously Redacted Documents and The Corcoran Scapegoating
Where Alina Habba Didn’t Personally Search
Some People Have Sex Toys; Trump [Claims He] Has Empty Classified Evening Briefing Folders
A Book Author, A Religious Leader, and A Pollster Walk into Trump’s Classified Document Bar
“Classified Evening Briefing:” Mishandled and Stolen Documents Update
The Trump-Biden-Pence Documents Story Is Not (Yet) about Overclassification
Donald Trump’s Contemptuous Leaking
Judge Aileen Cannon Dismisses Donald Trump’s Documents Challenge
DOJ Moves for Contempt as Injunction Finally Lifted
Two Inconsistent Stories on Additional Searches of Trump’s Property
11th Circuit to Trump: You’re Not Special
Trump Finally Describes How FBI Injured Him: By Taking his Celine Dion Picture
11th Circuit Showdown: The Fight to Get the Documents to Charge against Trump
Merrick Garland Names War Crimes Prosecutor Jack Smith to Oversee Trump Investigations
Aileen Cannon’s Special Master Review Helped DOJ Prepare for a Key Witness Interview
Devlin Barrett’s “People Familiar with the Matter”
Government Asks Raymond Dearie to Recommend Judge Cannon Lift Injunction on 2,794 Documents
Andy McCarthy Gives Frothers Permission to Approve of a Trump Indictment
Trump’s Secret Document, with the Post-Administration Pollster Communication, in His Desk Drawer
Judge Raymond Dearie Prepares to Consult with the Archives
Boris Epshteyn’s Clearance Problems
In Both Bannon and Stolen Document Cases, Trump’s Associates Claim He Is Still President
Jim Trusty Tells Hand-Picked Special Master Raymond Dearie to Fuck Off
Judge Aileen Cannon Risked the Safety of the Country to Protect Two Probably Public Letters
Judge Dearie Confirms Trump Has Claimed Executive Privilege Over a Personal Document
On August 8, There Were at Least 73 Items Where the FBI Had Seen 50-55 Boxes on June 3
Before SCOTUS, DOJ Argues Trump Has Shown No Harm
Boris Epshteyn Enters the Three-Person Chat
Trump’s File B-076: Calvinball Ping Pong
Trump’s SCOTUS Appeal Hypothetically Could Do Damage Beyond Delay
How Trump’s SCOTUS Appeal Shows Why He’s Got a Weaker Legal Argument than a [Former] Gitmo Detainee
Aileen Cannon Deliberately Harmed Trump To Create an Excuse to Help Him
What Happened with the Potentially Privileged Documents Seized from Mar-a-Lago
NARA Asked for 24 Boxes … Trump Gave Them 15
Aileen Cannon’s Calvinball Special Master
“Somewhat Convoluted:” Debunking the Judge Cannon Claims
Aileen Cannon Is Stiff-Arming the Press
Aileen Cannon Stomps on the Scales of Trumpy Injustice
The Claimed 200,000 Pages Trump Stole Include Press Clippings
Under Seal, Trump Accuses Hand-Picked Special Master of Not Following Orders
(from Peterr) Three Questions at the Start of an Intelligence Review
Just Following Orders: Raymond Dearie’s Strict Compliance with Aileen Cannon’s Orders
DOJ Raises Prospect that Trump Continues to Obstruct Investigation, Including of Empty Folders
Trump Sweeps Evidence of Obstruction under the Appellate Rug
Don’t Analyze Trump Legal Filings Based on the Law, Analyze Them Based on Power
Trump Wants Two Weeks to Review 64 Documents; DOJ Expects Review of 500 Documents a Day
In Motion for a Stay, DOJ Raises Prospect that Trump Leaked Classified Documents
Trust: In Bid for Stay, DOJ Likened Trump to Catastrophic Intelligence Compromise
Aileen Cannon’s Special Master Is Designed to Preempt Decisions Reserved for a Jury
Judge Aileen Cannon Deems Grand Jury Subpoenas Toilet Paper
Aileen Cannon Orders Government to Share Classified Information with Trump’s Counsel
Evan Corcoran’s Two May 25 Stall Letters
Yes, Trump Was Taking Notes on Classified Documents
“A Coat Rack with Suit Jackets, as Well as Interior Décor Items Such as Wall Art and Frames”
Carolyn Maloney Provides NARA Cause to Assert Standing
Donald Trump Agrees He Is Living By Barack Obama’s Rules
The Full-Fitton: Trump’s Funny Math with the Federal Records Act
In Bid to Keep Executive from Accessing Executive Branch Documents, Trump Confesses to Obstruction
18 USC 793(g): Aileen Cannon’s Order Would Not Forestall Flipping Trump’s Custodian of Records
DOJ Has at Least One Card Left to Play: Congress’ Instinct for Self-Preservation
Trump Proposes a New Plan to Steal Classified Documents
A Likely Looming Battle in the Stolen Document Case: Classified White House Counsel Documents
The Tactics of DOJ’s Request for a Partial Stay of Judge Cannon’s Order
Aileen Cannon Prioritized Donald Trump’s Reputation over CIA Assets’ Lives
Judge Aileen Cannon’s Funny Ideas about Being Owned
Aileen Cannon Calls an Investigation into “What’s Literally a Stolen Diary” … “Politicized”
Evan Corcoran Keeps Arguing that Evan Corcoran Didn’t Do a Diligent Search
The FBI Seized No Boxes with Press Clippings that Postdate November 2020
Beryl Howell Says the Surveillance Video Subpoena Was June 24, Not June 22
Return to Sender: DOJ Seized Evidence that Up to 90 Highly Sensitive Documents May Have Disappeared
No One Puts Roger Stone in a Box
(from Peterr) That Bratt-I-Am, That Bratt-I-Am, I Do Not Like That Bratt-I-Am
How DOJ Continues to Build Its Case that Trump Improperly Retained National Defense Information
Christina Bobb Claimed No Copies of the Stolen Classified Documents Had Been Made
Trump Stored Some of the Nation’s Most Sensitive Secrets with His Framed Time Magazine Cover
“The President Was … Working in a Filing Room”
One Big Potentially Pending Question: What Happens to Trump’s Impeachment 1.0 Papers?
Key Details about Evan Corcoran that Evan Corcoran Did Not Disclose to Judge Aileen Cannon
Six Days: Trump’s Second Whack Filing Is Too Late
Did Kash Patel Already Confess to Illegally Disseminating Carter Page FISA Information?
The Elements of the Offense for an 18 USC 793e Prosecution
Trump Had Human, Signals, and FISA Intelligence in an Insecure Room at Mar-a-Lago for a Year
Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart Accepts DOJ’s Proposed Redactions
Christina Bobb, Custodian of Records and Coup Conspirator
A Roger Stone Pardon for MacronLeaks Isn’t As Crazy as It Sounds
Mastering Obstruction: Two of Trump’s Attorneys May Be Witnesses or Suspects
Archives Letter Demonstrates Import of Past Kash Patel Claim of Declassification
Trump’s Reneges on Promised Significant Fourth Amendment Filing
Next Steps in the Trump Stolen Documents Investigation
Maggie Haberman: Heads It’s Only Obstruction, Tails It’s Not Obstruction
The French President May Be Contained Inside the Roger Stone Clemency
Which of the Many Investigations Trump Has Obstructed Is DOJ Investigating?
The Known and Likely Content of Trump’s Search Warrant
The ABCs (and Provisions e, f, and g) of the Espionage Act
Trump’s Latest Tirade Proves Any Temporary Restraining Order May Come Too Late
How Trump’s Search Worked, with Nifty Graphic
Pat Philbin Knows Why the Bodies Are Buried
Trump’s Timid (Non-Legal) Complaints about Attorney-Client Privilege
18 USC 793e in the Time of Shadow Brokers and Donald Trump
[from Rayne] Other Possible Classified Materials in Trump’s Safe
John Solomon and Kash Patel May Be Implicated in the FBI’s Trump-Related Espionage Act Investigation
[from Peterr] Merrick Garland Preaches to an Overseas Audience
Three Ways Merrick Garland and DOJ Spoke of Trump as if He Might Be Indicted
The Legal and Political Significance of Nuclear Document[s] Trump Is Suspected to Have Stolen
Merrick Garland Calls Trump’s Bluff
[from Rayne] Expected Response is Expected: Trump and Right-Wing DARVO
DOJ’s June Mar-a-Lago Trip Helps Prove 18 USC 793e
The Likely Content of a Trump Search Affidavit
Some Likely Exacerbating Factors that Would Contribute to a Trump Search
FBI Executes a Search Warrant at 1100 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, FL 33480
Statutory Background
18 USC 793: Espionage Act
18 USC 1512: Obstruction
18 USC 2071: Removal of Government Documents
18 USC 1519: Obstruction
44 USC 2201ff: Presidential Records Act
32 CFR Parts 2001 and 2003: Rules on storage of classified information
Other links
Recommended expert explainers:
- David Aaron (former NSD prosecutor) How Much Prison Time Does Former President Trump Face? Applying the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines
- David Aaron, Expert Backgrounder: Secret Evidence in Public Trials
- Matt Tait (former GCHQ), What are the Classified Documents in the Trump Indictment?
Existing legal requests for Trump materials from the Archives
- A series of subpoenas from the January 6 Committee that the Supreme Court has already ruled has precedence over any claims of privilege made by Trump
- Two subpoenas from DOJ’s team investigating January 6, one obtained in May, covering everything NARA has provided to the J6C, and a second one served on NARA on August 17; these subpoenas would also be covered under SCOTUS’ ruling rejecting Trump’s privilege claims
- Discovery in Tom Barrack’s case, whose trial starts on September 19 (DOJ informed Barrack they had requested Trump White House materials from NARA on April 5)
- A subpoena from Peter Strzok in his lawsuit over his firing and privacy act violations
Other Key Reports
August 13, 2022: Fox News Report identifying which receipt includes items identified as potentially privileged onsite
August 23, 2022: WaPo Report on document turnover, including description of Trump packing himself
September 6, 2022: WaPo Report reporting seizure of material on foreign nation’s nuclear capabilities
September 16, 2022: WaPo report that, on September 21, Pat Philbin told NARA that Mark Meadows told him the boxes were full of clippings.
