FBI transcripts of interviews with former Trump aides released this week show the employee told agents he believed boxes stored at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort contained hairspray, shampoo, deodorant and newspaper clippings.

However, the case accusing Donald Trump of mishandling sensitive White House documents remains more or less a “slam dunk”, according to one US political expert.

Nota and Carlos de Oliveira, who still works for the former president, will appear in a Florida court on Friday to ask a judge to dismiss charges that they helped hinder the investigation of classified documents.

In an interview in May 2022, Mr. Niu Tells agents that he transported boxes of Trump’s “personal belongings” from the White House to the Florida club when the former president left in 2021 but was unaware that any documents with classification marks were among them.

He also said he didn’t know Trump allegedly took out secret documents on plane As widely reported, he explained to aides that he was “sitting in the back of the plane.”

Dr Christopher Phelps, a lecturer in American politics at the University of Nottingham, acknowledged that Mr Nota was probably telling the truth but said it would be difficult to prevent the case from happening.

“There is no question that there are sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago,” he claimed, adding that he had seen images of pages outlined with red tape, suggesting they related to top-secret information.

“They don’t need Notah to deal with Trump.

“As one element in a complex case, it could be useful to flip Nota and have him testify against Trump and provide details of all their conversations and reveal things from behind the scenes that they didn’t know.

“But in terms of whether they can win the case, they probably don’t care whether he stonewalled.”

The transcript also shows that FBI officials told Mr. Nota they were investigating missing documents dating back a year that contained “confidential information.” […] harming national security.” Mr Nota was allowed to submit a minimally redacted version of the interview transcript ahead of the hearing.

Trump was charged with 37 counts of mishandling classified documents. The case, filed last year, accuses him of storing documents in “the ballroom, bathrooms and showers, office space, bedrooms and storage rooms” at Mar-a-Lago. He denies the accusations.

In 2021, investigators seized approximately 13,000 documents at Mar-a-Lago.

Dr. Phelps pointed to Trump’s demand for “absolute loyalty” and said it left his allies in a dilemma between being loyal to him and assisting the FBI investigation.

He singled out Trump’s appointment last month of a new leadership team at the Republican National Committee, including his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who was named co-chair.

In interviews for RNC positions, interviewees were asked whether they believed the 2020 election was stolen.

But Dr Phelps said Mr Trump’s defense that a former staffer could receive an award or pardon if the presumptive Republican nominee wins this year’s presidential election was a “dangerous bet”.

“Some people thought Trump was their supporter only to find out he didn’t deliver on his promises,” he said.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon denied Trump’s attempt to dismiss the classified documents case under the Presidential Records Act, the second motion to dismiss that the judge has denied. A trial date has been set for May 20.

Mr. Trump has been charged in four criminal cases. He denies all charges.

Recent polls from Reuters and Ipsos Mori It shows that 69% of American voters consider the accusations of removing classified documents from the White House to be very serious, meaning any conviction could affect his election chances.