Trump demands Jack Smith turn over 'functional video' of FBI's Mar-a-Lago raid
Donald Trump and his lawyers are accusing special counsel Jack Smith of failing to provide them with a "comprehensive set of functional video" stemming from security footage at the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort.
Trump and co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveria say they want "access to workable video" in order to "properly investigate the facts and represent their clients," Newsweek reported.
"The fact remains that the [special counsel's office] failed to provide a comprehensive set of functional video that defense counsel need in order to properly investigate critical facts in this case, and it is evident from the SCO's many 'key clips' that it was able to effectively use the video it obtained," the lawyers wrote.
The lawyers added that "a full set of functional video is necessary to understand how the SCO allegedly located additional classified documents," during the FBI's August 8, 2022 raid "in the Mar-a-Lago storage room" after "counsel for President Trump searched the same room in early June and directed that an additional lock be installed in mid-June."
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"Video would show whether, or not, additional materials were brought to the storage room in the meantime," the lawyers wrote.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 40 charges related to his alleged improper handling of classified documents from his time as president. He's also accused of obstructing the federal government's efforts to retrieve the documents. Nauta and De Oliveira, who have also pleaded not guilty, are accused of hiding boxes of classified documents from the FBI and conspiring to delete security footage.
Defense lawyers also claim they've been "left with an inconsistent, unreliable" video to prepare for the case that would take a "substantial amount of time to view under the best of circumstances."
"Defendants request that the Court require the government to provide a complete set of operational and unzipped and/or not compressed video files," they added.
In their reply, Smith's team wrote in court filings that they have "produced the CCTV footage in an accessible format" and have also "taken several additional steps to facilitate ease of review for defense counsel, all of whom are able to access and view the footage."
""Accordingly, the Court should deny as moot the defendants' unsupported request for an order compelling production of the CCTV footage in an accessible format, Smith's team wrote.