'It's going to be a crime': Trump was reportedly warned by lawyer before hiding documents

Before former President Donald Trump defied subpoenas to return highly classified national defense information hoarded at his Mar-a-Lago country club, an attorney warned him that "it's going to be a crime" if he were to do so, ABC News reported on Wednesday.

That case is currently being prosecuted by special counsel Jack Smith in federal court in South Florida, which also includes the former president's body man Walt Nauta as the ex-president's co-defendant.

"Sources said the lawyer, Jennifer Little, told investigators Trump 'absolutely' understood the warning, which came during a pivotal meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Trump and another attorney, Evan Corcoran, who had recently joined Trump's legal team," reported Katherine Faulders, Mike Levine, and Alexander Mallin.

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"What Little allegedly told Smith's team earlier this year may shed further light on how Smith came to accuse Trump of knowingly violating the law, saying in his June 9 indictment against Trump that the former president defied a subpoena by hiding more than 100 classified documents from the FBI and even his own legal team, and then having his legal team certify otherwise," the report continued.

The former president has denied doing anything illegal, and maintains that he had a right to "mentally declassify" any documents he removed, even without going through a formal process or telling anyone about it.

In July, Smith filed a superseding indictment in the case, adding charges against Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira, who allegedly worked with Trump to try to destroy incriminating security footage of the boxes of documents being moved and concealed.