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Secret Service agents hired to protect Donald Trump may have provided key evidence in the classified documents case where the former president is at risk of federal indictment, according to a legal expert.
Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance discussed a "new and interesting" detail reported by The New York Times on June 6. More than 20 members of the former president's security detail have testified to a grand jury in Washington D.C., the newspaper reported. The grand jury heard evidence as part of the investigation into allegations Trump mishandled classified materials found at his Mar-a-Lago resort and obstructed the federal attempt to retrieve them.
Trump has denied the allegations and stated he has done "nothing wrong."
Writing in her blog, Vance suggested the agents' apparent testimony could be significant if they were able to "shed light" on the July 2021 meeting Trump held in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he was allegedly recorded admitting he had retained a secret Pentagon paper and that he no longer had the power to declassify it.
The sound of papers rustling is said to be heard in an audio recording obtained by Special Counsel Jack Smith's office, although it is unclear if Trump was holding the classified document in question at the time. Newsweek has contacted Trump's legal team for comment via email.
The alleged audio recording casts doubt on Trump's long-argued defense that he had declassified all the sensitive materials which were removed from the White House before he left office in January 2021.
Vance suggested other reasons why the security detail around the former president may have provided key information as part of the probe.
"Secret Service agents are always with Trump. And they are also highly trained as observers and witnesses," Vance wrote.
"Agents work criminal cases and testify before grand juries and trial juries. It's their job. In other words, these folks are trained witnesses. As a prosecutor, you couldn't ask for much better."
It was previously reported in April that "multiple" Secret Service agents had been subpoenaed to testify in front of the grand jury in Washington D.C. Further details—including the questions the agents were asked to answer under oath—are unknown.
The reports of Secret Service testimony arrive amid rising speculation that Trump is set to be indicted as part of the classified documents investigation.
On Monday, several media outlets reported that three of Trump's lawyers met with Justice Department officials, including Smith, to argue that the former president should not be charged in the case.
Trump is said to have received a so-called "target letter" from the Department of Justice notifying him that he is currently under federal investigation, another indication that charges are set to be filed.
The former president dismissed suggestions that he has been warned about a potentially historic federal indictment.
"No one has told me I'm being indicted, and I shouldn't be because I've done NOTHING wrong, but I have assumed for years that I am a Target of the WEAPONIZED DOJ & FBI, starting with the Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX, the 'No Collusion' Mueller Report, Impeachment HOAX #1, Impeachment HOAX #2, the PERFECT Ukraine phone call, and various other SCAMS & WITCH HUNTS," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more