Former President Donald Trump was warned in May 2022 that if he did not comply with a subpoena sent out by the Justice Department for classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, he would risk an FBI raid.
In voice memos disclosed to ABC News from Mr. Trump’s former attorney Evan Corcoran that were recorded the day after his conversation with Mr. Trump, he said he warned Mr. Trump that the FBI could search Mr. Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, estate if he didn’t respond to the subpoena.
“We’ve got a grand jury subpoena and the alternative is if you don’t comply with the grand jury subpoena, you could be held in contempt,” Mr. Corcoran said he told Mr. Trump in the voice memos.
The Washington Times did not independently listen to the recordings.
Another attorney for Mr. Trump told Mr. Corcoran that if he forced Mr. Trump to respond to the subpoena, “he’s just going to go ballistic.”
Mr. Corcoran’s recordings have become evidence in the federal classified documents case brought against the former president by special counsel Jack Smith, who ordered Mr. Corcoran to hand them over.
Mr. Trump is facing 41 felony charges for taking classified documents to his estate, storing them in unsecured locations, and then obstructing efforts by federal officials to retrieve them.
He pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial next May.
According to the voice recordings, when Mr. Corcoran explained to Mr. Trump that he could be held in contempt if he didn’t comply with the subpoena, Mr. Trump asked what would happen “if we just don’t respond at all or don’t play ball with them?”
Mr. Corcoran responded that federal officials would show up at the estate with a search warrant.
The recordings suggested that Mr. Corcoran was told by others that the basement storage room at Mar-a-Lago was the only place that housed any classified documents.
The indictment, however, alleges Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, two workers from Mar-a-Lago, spent time moving boxes that contained classified documents from the storage room to other areas of the estate before Mr. Corcoran was due back to conduct his own search for the material.
Mr. Corcoran turned over 38 documents to the FBI and told federal officials Mr. Trump had complied with the subpoena.
An FBI search in August revealed more than 100 additional classified documents found in Mr. Trump’s office and other places.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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