An unknown associate of Donald Trump advised the former president to return classified documents held at Mar-A-Lago almost a year before the FBI searched his Florida home, according to legal filings from prosecutors unsealed Monday, detailing multiple warnings given to the president years before he was indicted on charges of willfully retaining national security materials. The associate, identified as “Person 16” in the unsealed summary of an interview with the FBI, learned Trump had not returned presidential records to the National Archives after leaving office and discovered “multiple people” tried to convince the former president to return the documents, according to the filing.
The associate, who remains unnamed, told Trump in November 2021 to “give everything back” and warned him not to give prosecutors a reason to indict him—a request to which Trump responded with a “weird ‘you’re the man’ type of response,” the filing said. The associate could not provide a reason for believing Trump intentionally kept the boxes of documents, but noted that only 15 out of the 50 boxes were returned to the National Archive, and a decision was made not to return all of them. Additionally, the associate suggested that one of Trump’s children was asked to talk to the former president about returning the documents.
The filings unsealed on Monday also revealed that the FBI codenamed its Trump classified documents probe “Plasmic Echo.” Federal prosecutors have charged Trump with illegally holding sensitive documents at Mar-A-Lago after leaving office and obstructing an investigation into their whereabouts. Despite repeated requests to return all classified documents in his possession, Trump ignored these requests. He has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges and has attempted to have the case dismissed on grounds of presidential immunity and protection under the Presidential Records Act.
Judge Aileen Cannon has not ruled in Trump’s favor on either request for dismissal, and the Supreme Court is reviewing his immunity argument in a separate criminal case for 2020 election interference. The trial for the classified documents was initially scheduled for May but now looks likely to be conducted after the November election. Trump is currently on trial in a New York case where he faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to reimburse his fixer for hush money. Trump’s representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
