The Washington Post quoted Trump on Tuesday, Oct. 21, that “the federal
government owes him ‘a lot of money’ for prior Justice Department investigations
into his actions and insisted he would have the ultimate say on any payout because
any decision will ‘have to go across my desk’”. The implication
is that Trump thinks he can use the power of his office and his control over the
Justice Department to ensure that he will be given this money. And it is a
substantial amount of money.
The Post story further explains the issue in question.
“Trump’s comments to reporters at the White House came in response to questions
about a New York Times story that said he had filed administrative claims before
being reelected seeking roughly $230 million in damages related to the FBI's 2022
search of his Mar-a-Lago property for classified documents….”
The flaw in Trump’s views of the case is that he did break federal law when, after
the end of his first presidency, he took boxes of public documents to his Florida
private estate. At the time, there were news stories about the case. One of the news
reports was written by CNN journalists Kaitlan Collins, Kevin Liptak, Katelyn
Polantz, Sara Murray, Evan Perez, Gabby Orr and Dan Berman, CNN, Aug 9,
2022 . Here are excerpts.
“The FBI executed a search warrant Monday at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort
in Palm Beach, Florida, as part of an investigation into the handling of presidential
documents, including classified documents, that may have been brought there,
three people familiar with the situation told CNN.”
”The search began early Monday morning and law enforcement personnel
appeared to be focused on the area of the club where Trump’s offices and personal
quarters are, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“The FBI’s search included examining where documents were kept, according to
another person familiar with the investigation, and boxes of items were taken.
Following the National Archives’ recovering of White House records from Mar-a-
Lap..”
It’s worth noting, as Collins and her colleagues point out,
“Christina Bobb, Trump’s attorney, said the FBI seized documents. ‘President
Trump and his legal team have been cooperative with FBI and DOJ officials every
step of the way. The FBI did conduct an unannounced raid and seized paper,’ Bobb
said.”
“The National Archives, charged with collecting and sorting presidential material,
has previously said at least 15 boxes of White House records were recovered from
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort – including some that were classified.”
The journalists also note, “It is a federal crime to remove classified documents
wrongly.”
----------
Ali Velshi’s book, The Trump Indictments: The 91 Criminal Counts Against the
Former President of the United States (publ. 2023), includes one having to do with
the documents (pp. 54-57). Here is some of what Velshi reports.
“1. Defendant Donald J. Trump was the forty-fifth President of the United States of
America. He held office from January 20, 2017, until January 20, 2021. As
President, Trump had lawful access to the most sensitive classified documents and
national defense information gathered and owned by the United States government,
including information from the agencies that comprise the United States
Intelligence Community and the United States Department of Defense.
“2. Over the course of his presidency, Trump gathered newspapers, press
clippings, letters, notes, cards, photographs, official documents, and other materials
in cardboard boxes that he keeps in the White House. Among the materials Trump
stored in his boxes were hundreds of classified documents.
“3. The classified documents Trump stored in his boxes included information
regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign
countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United
Cto a foreign attack. The authorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the Untied States, foreign relations, the safety of
the United States military, and human sources and the continued viability of
sensitive intelligence collection methods.”
Velshi makes other points, including this one: “On August 8, pursuant to a court-
authorized search warrant, the FBI recovered from Trump office and storage
rooms at the Mar-a-Lago Club 102 more documents with classification markings.”
----------
Concluding thoughts
Given the official record of Trump’s handling of classified documents, it appears that his demands for $230 million in compensation border on the absurd. However, the question remains whether in the present context, in which he and his party have something like total control over the federal government, he may get away with it.