Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers recently hired a team to search four of his properties for any remaining classified material, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The team of two searched Trump Tower in New York, Bedminster Golf Club and two other properties amid ongoing concerns from the Justice Department that not all documents had been returned to the federal government.
The four investigations, which took place in recent weeks, were overseen by Trump’s legal team, the source said. Trump’s lawyers offered to allow federal investigators to monitor the search at his Bedminster property, but that offer was rejected. Given the Justice Department’s response, Trump lawyers have not made a similar offer to search the other properties.
It would be highly unusual for the Justice Department to observe investigations not conducted by law enforcement. The department declined to comment.
It’s unclear what follow-up contact there was between Trump’s legal team and federal investigators after the probes. The source did not specify what they told the Justice Department about the investigation, but said they have not assured the Justice Department that no new material was found during the investigation.
Some details of the investigation were first reported by the Washington Post.
CNN previously exclusively reported that Trump’s legal team was considering allowing federal agents to search Mar-a-Lago again to satisfy Justice Department demands that all sensitive government documents be returned. The matter was litigated in court this fall, where the Justice Department asked a judge to issue an order forcing the Trump team to arrange a new investigation.
