Judge orders FBI to release some information in Trump documents case and shredded toilet docs

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Judge orders FBI to release some information in Trump documents case​

In a memorandum opinion issued Monday, Judge Beryl Howell wrote, "Given the current circumstances and legal landscape—including that President Trump now enjoys absolute and presumptive immunity from criminal liability, the government has dismissed criminal charges against President Trump and ... and no pending or even contemplated criminal enforcement action within the applicable statute of limitations on the topics of responsive records is at all likely," the exemptions the FBI cited to block the release of information no longer apply.

Exactly three years ago, on Feb. 10, 2022, Axios reported that New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman's then-upcoming book, "Confidence Man," included a claim that White House staff "periodically discovered wads of printed paper clogging" the presidential toilet.

Eight days later, on Feb. 18, 2022, a letter from the National Archives described how President Trump allegedly brought classified records to his personal residence at Mar-a-Lago after losing the 2020 election.

Bloomberg News reporter Jason Leopold filed a FOIA request for six categories of documents. The first five categories pertained to documents stored at Mar-a-Lago, but the sixth category requested information about any records mentioning "Presidential Records from the Trump White House that were destroyed and ... allegedly flushed down the toilet."

Some of the information from the Mar-a-Lago investigation files was eventually released but the sixth category has remained secret.