Trump loyalist Kash Patel questioned before Mar-a-Lago grand jury
Source: Washington Post
By Carol D. Leonnig, Devlin Barrett and Josh Dawsey
November 3, 2022 at 11:16 p.m. EDT
Kash Patel, a loyal aide to Donald Trump and former White House deputy, faced questions before a grand jury Thursday as part of a criminal investigation into the former president’s possession of classified records more than 18 months after he left office, according to a person familiar with the matter.
National security prosecutors asked Patel about his public claims this spring that Trump had declassified a large number of government documents before leaving office in 2021. Patel was also questioned about how and why the departing president took secret and top-secret records to Mar-a-Lago, his part-time residence and private club in Florida, according to the person with knowledge of the session, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about a grand jury probe.
Patel, a former federal prosecutor, is considered a key witness by the Justice Department in large measure because of what evidence he may provide in defense of Trump’s retention of the records, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss it. Some of the records contained top-secret information about Iran’s missile system and intelligence related to China, The Washington Post has previously reported.
Investigators did not expect Patel to offer evidence implicating Trump in possible crimes, these people said. But they added that the government badly wanted his firsthand account, under oath, of any declassification decisions made by Trump.
Read more: https://wapo.st/3zI1GWO
= new reply since forum marked as read
