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US Federal Judge Unseals Parts of FBI Affidavit  

Newly released information from the unsealed portions of the legal documents the FBI submitted justifying its reasons to secure a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate shows the Justice Department on June 24 subpoenaed the Trump Organization, demanding video from surveillance cameras located near the estate’s storage room where dozens of boxes filled with classified material were located. 

A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday unsealed previously redacted portions of the documents the FBI submitted for the search warrant as part of its investigation of Trump’s handling of classified documents after he left the White House in January 2021.  

The affidavit says the Trump Organization handed over a hard drive with the surveillance footage on July 6 in response to the subpoena.  

The FBI subpoenaed the company for the footage weeks after agents saw about 50 boxes of records in the storage room, according to the affidavit. 

The subpoena came weeks before agents executed a search warrant for Trump’s property on August 8, seizing more than 11,000 documents and 1,800 other items, including more than 100 classified documents.  

A heavily redacted version of the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant was released last month, but the Justice Department said it decided to unseal additional portions of the document after Trump lawyers revealed the existence of the grand jury subpoena for the footage.  

The FBI is investigating several possible crimes in connection with Trump’s retention of presidential records, including a potential violation of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice.   

The FBI investigation suffered a setback last week after a federal judge ordered the appointment of a special master and temporarily barred agents from using the records, including classified documents.  

The Justice Department has said it would appeal the ruling by Judge Aileen Cannon unless she allows agents to regain access to the classified documents and bars the special master from viewing them. The department has given Cannon until Thursday to issue a “partial stay” of her order.   

The Justice Department and the Trump legal team have each proposed two candidates to serve as special master.  

In a court filing on Monday, the Justice Department indicated it would accept one of the two candidates proposed by Trump lawyers: Raymond Dearie, a federal judge on “senior active” status.  

Dearie and the department’s own candidates — retired federal judges Barbara Jones and Thomas Griffith — have “substantial judicial experience, during which they have presided over federal criminal and civil cases, including federal cases involving national security and privilege concerns,” the filing said.   

The Justice Department opposed the Trump team’s other candidate, Paul Huck Jr., former deputy attorney general for the state of Florida, saying he “does not appear to have similar experience.”  

Meanwhile, U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney, chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee, has requested the National Archives to conduct a review of all presidential records from the Trump administration to determine whether any records “may still be outside the agency’s custody and control.”  

In a letter requesting the review, Maloney said staffers from the Archives recently told the committee the agency is not certain it has all the records from the Trump White House.  

Maloney asked the Archives, the agency that collects and preserves all official government documents, for an initial assessment of its findings by September 27.  

The investigation of the missing documents is taking place as the Justice Department appears to be widening its probe of efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election.  

The New York Times reported Monday that the Justice Department issued about 40 subpoenas over the past week to various people connected to the Trump administration and his re-election campaign, from low-level aides to senior advisers to the former president.  

VOA Justice correspondent Masood Farivar contributed to this article. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. 
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Panel: National Archives Still Not Certain It Has All Trump Records

The National Archives is still not certain that it has custody of all former President Donald Trump’s presidential records even after the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago club, a congressional committee said in a letter Tuesday. 

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform revealed that staff at the National Archives on an August 24 call could not provide assurances that they have all of Trump’s presidential records. The committee’s letter asked the agency to conduct an assessment of whether any Trump records remain unaccounted for and potentially in his possession. 

“In light of revelations that Mr. Trump’s representatives misled investigators about his continued possession of government property and that material found at his club included dozens of ’empty folders’ for classified material, I am deeply concerned that sensitive presidential records may remain out of the control and custody of the U.S. Government,” Representative Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the chairwoman of the Oversight Committee, wrote in the letter. 

The House committee has jurisdiction over the Presidential Records Act, a 1978 law that requires the preservation of White House documents as property of the U.S. government. The request is the latest development in a monthslong back-and-forth between the agency and the committee, which has been investigating Trump’s handling of records. 

The request also comes weeks after the FBI recovered more than 100 documents with classified markings and more than 10,000 other government documents from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. The search came after lawyers for Trump provided a sworn certification that all government records had been returned. 

Maloney and other Democratic lawmakers on the panel have been seeking a briefing from the National Archives but haven’t received one due to the Justice Department’s ongoing criminal investigation into the matter. 

But the letter notes a call between National Archives staff and the committee on August 24, in which lawmakers were informed that documents could still be missing. 

As a result, Maloney wrote, the committee is asking the agency to conduct an “urgent review” of all of the government records that have been recorded from the Trump White House to determine whether any additional records remain unaccounted for and potentially in the possession of the former president. 

In addition, the committee also asked for the National Archives to get a personal certification from Trump “that he has surrendered all presidential records that he illegally removed from the White House after leaving office.” 

The committee is asking the agency to provide an initial assessment of this review by September 27. 
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‘A Seat at the Table’: Alaska Native to Be Sworn In to Congress

On the eve of her first day in Congress, Mary Peltola stood outside what was once the office of the late Alaska Representative Don Young, swarmed by the local and national press, and marveled at the moment. 

“I really hope that Don is getting a kick out of this,” Peltola told The Associated Press in an interview Monday. “I can’t help but think that some things broke my way on account of his great sense of humor.” 

The kicker is that 50 years ago, right before Peltola was born, her parents worked on Young’s first campaign for the only congressional seat in Alaska. Young won and went on to hold it for 49 years before his death in March. 

Last month, on her 49th birthday, Peltola, a Democrat, won the special election to finish out Young’s term, besting a field of candidates that included Republican Sarah Palin, who was seeking a political comeback in the state where she was governor. 

On Tuesday night, Peltola, who is Yup’ik, will make her own history when she is sworn in as the first Alaska Native in Congress and the first woman to hold the seat. She previously was a state lawmaker for 10 years representing the rural hub community of Bethel, Alaska. 

“To have a seat at the table is different,” Peltola said. “But I am just always reminding people that I’m not here to represent just the 16% of Alaskans who are Alaska Natives. I’m here to represent all Alaskans.” 

Two other new members also will be sworn in to office Tuesday evening: Democrat Pat Ryan and Republican Joe Sempolinski of New York. 

Peltola’s campaign has emphasized her dedication to “fish, family and freedom.” Fish are a staple in Alaskan life, and salmon holds particular cultural significance to Alaska Natives. A subsistence lifestyle — relying on fish, wildlife and berries — is essential in rural Alaska, including in many Native communities, where goods must be flown or barged in and costs for basic necessities can be exorbitant. 

Peltola said she sees her few weeks in office as an homage to Young’s service as a more moderate force in an increasingly polarized Congress. Like the often gruff Young, Peltola said she is bringing a sense of humor to the job, along with a history of being a consensus builder with even the most conservative of colleagues. 

After Palin came in second to Peltola in the special election last month, the two women shared a cordial back-and-forth. In a text message, Palin congratulated her and wrote that she was a “real Alaskan chick! Beautiful & smart and tough.” 

Peltola replied, “Your text means the world to me … We really are in this together.” 

The newly elected congresswoman’s time in the Alaska Legislature overlapped with Palin’s time as governor, and the women have remained cordial. Peltola has said that one of the most “unsavory” parts of American politics is negative campaigning. 

But staying above the fray could prove difficult. Peltola is on the ballot in November to serve a full two-year term, again facing off against Palin, Republican Nick Begich and Libertarian Chris Bye, all of whom advanced from last month’s open primary. 

That’s partly why Peltola said she doesn’t plan to get too comfortable in her new office, which Young, a Republican, adorned with the heads of bucks and bears and large rifles in a nod to his love of hunting. Now those walls are bare. 

“It didn’t make sense to really become too entrenched, or decorate, or set up shop,” Peltola said. “I really just feel like I’m camping here until the term is over. And then being open and seeing what happens next.” 

 
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