Trump Reportedly Sought to Swap Mar-a-Lago Docs for FBI Files Proving Russiagate Was Hoax

The former president has accused Joe Biden and the “sleazy Democrats” of using a Justice Department probe into his potentially illegal storage of reams of government papers at his Florida estate to try to bar him from another run for office, and proclaimed that the president can declassify sensitive documents at will “just by thinking about it.”

Former US President Donald Trump allegedly told his lawyers to float a proposal to the National Archives Administration to exchange files he had taken with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago in January 2021 for documents conclusively showing that the FBI had fabricated its fateful 2016 probe into claims of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

According to an NYT story based on interviews and documents, Trump was convinced that the National Archives was keeping files proving his Russiagate hoax allegations hidden from him. He reportedly did not specify exactly which files he wanted in exchange for the Mar-a-Lago docs, but only indicated that there were documents which could prove FBI wrongdoing.

Trump’s lawyers were said to have reneged on the idea after it became clear that the government had a right to reclaim the documents Trump took with him to his estate without having to offer anything in exchange.

The former POTUS spent nearly three years of his presidency fending off the outlandish (and since debunked) claims that he colluded with the Kremlin during the 2016 presidential election, claims floated by the Clinton campaign, the Obama administration, and the FBI in the final weeks and days of the Obama presidency.

The collusion claims helped to scuttle any hopes of a détente with Russia which Trump had proposed on the campaign trail, and the Republican hired a series of Russia hawks, signed off on several waves of anti-Russia legislation and sanctions, sent arms to Ukraine, closed Russian consulates, and bombed Syria to "prove" he was not in cahoots with the Kremlin.

In the spring of 2019, Special Counsel Robert Mueller wrapped a long-awaited investigation into the collusion allegations, finding no evidence of a Trump-Russia conspiracy, and determining that Moscow’s so-called "meddling" in the 2016 election was limited to troll farms and ad spending on Facebook.

The FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August, seizing several dozen boxes containing about 11,000 documents, including 18 labeled “top secret,” 54 labeled “secret," and 31 labeled “confidential.”

Trump has denied any wrongdoing, insisting that he had the power to declassify government papers at will in his capacity as president, complaining that the raid took place without his lawyers present, and slamming the FBI for searching through his family’s private things, including his wife’s underwear drawers, and for taking his personal documents, including passports and medical records.

Trump could face possible obstruction of justice charges if the DoJ probe shows that he deliberately concealed or mishandled government documents.

The former president has dismissed all charges of wrongdoing against him, and warned last month that the government would face “big problems” and would “tear this country apart” if they tried to indict him.