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Former President Donald Trump has said his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida is like an "armed fort" as he slammed the ongoing investigation into his handling of classified documents at the premises.
Trump also appeared to criticize the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Hur, who is tasked with investigating the discovery of classified documents at President Joe Biden's former office and his home in Delaware.
"What Biden did was wrong, but he was given a reasonable and stable Special Counsel who is sane, inclined not to make waves, friendly with RINOS, and is not known as a flame-throwing lunatic or a Biden hater," the former president wrote on his Truth Social platform.
"What I did was RIGHT, Secured documents in a secured place, lock on the doors, guards and Secret Service all around, security cameras working. Mar-a-Lago is essentially an armed fort, and was built that way in the 1920's, with High Walls & structure to serve as the Southern W.H.," he added.
Trump wrote in a subsequent post: "I was President of the U.S. and covered and protected by the Presidential Records Act, which is not criminal and allows and encourages you to talk to the NARA [the National Archives and Records Administration], which we were, very nicely, until the FBI, who it is now learned has been after me for years without pause or question, RAIDED Mar-a-Lago, a stupid and probably Illegal thing to do."
"As President, I have the right to declassify documents, Biden did not. Special 'Prosecutor' Jack Smith, however, is a Trump Hating political Thug....." the former president added.
Trump has previously attacked Smith, a career prosecutor. In an appearance on The Mark Levin Show on Thursday, Trump called on Smith to resign from his role.
"The prosecutor should resign, he's got a conflict," Trump said. "He is a terrorist. He is a Trump hater."
The former president also referred to Smith's wife, documentary filmmaker Katy Chevigny, who worked as a producer on Becoming, a 2020 documentary film about former first lady Michelle Obama, and previously donated to Democrats.
Writing on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump said: "The Boxes Hoax Case against me should be dropped immediately. I have done nothing wrong!"
He was referring to Smith's investigation and the fact that boxes containing classified documents were taken from Mar-a-Lago.
According to an affidavit related to the August 8, 2022 FBI search of Trump's home in Palm Beach, Florida, more than 100 classified documents were in boxes that were taken from Mar-a-Lago by the National Archives last year, while of those 25 were marked top secret.
The affidavit contained part of a letter from the Department of Justice (DOJ) counsel to Trump's counsel on June 8 that said "Mar-a-Lago does not include a secure location authorized for the storage of classified information."
Newsweek has asked the DOJ for comment.
Update 01/14/23, 07:20 a.m. E.T.: This article was updated to include more information and a new image.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more