Investigators looking into Donald Trump's storing of classified information from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida say they think he likely did it due to his own ego, rather than any alleged scheme to profit from them, The Washington Post reports.
Federal investigators and prosecutors reportedly think that Trump intended to keep the materials as trophies or mementos after they reviewed what was taken to see if the types of information contained in them showed any kind of pattern.
"That review has not found any apparent business advantage to the types of classified information in Trump’s possession, these people said," The Post's report stated. "FBI interviews with witnesses so far, they said, also do not point to any nefarious effort by Trump to leverage, sell, or use the government secrets. Instead, the former president seemed motivated by a more basic desire not to give up what he believed was his property, these people said."
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Sources speaking to The Post say that additional information could emerge showing that Trump had different motives, but as the current evidence stands, Trump’s "ego and intransigence" was likely the reason he took the materials.
“It makes perfect sense as to why prosecutors would be spending time scouring through the various records and documents to look for some kind of pattern or theme to explain why certain records were kept and why others were not,” former federal prosecutor Robert Mintz told The Post. “In presenting a case to a jury, prosecutors typically want to explain the motive for committing a crime. It’s not necessary to prove a crime, but it helps tell the story of exactly how a crime unfolded, according to the government.”
Read the full report over at The Washington Post.
