Now Trump's Secret Service agents are expected to testify to a grand jury in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case - as report says DOJ have MORE evidence he obstructed probe by going through file boxes

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Several of Donald Trump's Secret Service agents have been subpoenaed to testify in the investigation of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago as the Justice Department has obtained new evidence suggesting the former president tried to obstruct their probe.

The agents are expected to testify before a Washington, D.C. grand jury - likely on Friday of this week, Fox News reported. 

Additionally, new evidence shows that, after the subpoena for the documents was delivered, Trump personally looked through some of the boxes, The Washington Post reported, apparently out of a desire to keep certain items.

Trump's attorneys turned over some documents after a May 2022 subpoena for his presidential records but the August raid on the former president's Palm Beach home revealed more documents - including classified ones - that hadn't been handed over. 

Justice Department has new evidence that alleges Donald Trump tried to obstruct the investigation into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago - above, Trump at his Palm Beach home in November 2022

Intent is key in the Justice Department's case, which special counsel Jack Smith is leading. Prosecutors have to be able to show that whatever actions were taken were done to try to hinder or block an investigation. 

The additional evidence suggests Trump told his team in early 2022, when the National Archives and Records Administration was trying to recover Trump's records from his presidency, to hinder the efforts, the Post reported. 

The former president reportedly asked his team to release false statements claiming he had returned all the requested documents. He also asked his lawyers how he could keep the records he wanted in his possession and was warned that could be legally risky.

It is a crime to conceal a document or tangible object 'with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency.' 

While Trump's actions may not be a crime, they could serve as evidence of his intent.

And federal officials, as they investigate the matter, have asked witnesses if Trump showed classified documents to political donors, the Post reported. It could also show the former president's motivation to keep some of the records.

Under the Presidential Records Act, all documents from a presidential administration are the federal government's property and go to the National Archives upon the end of a presidency. Trump, it's been reported, believed they were his property.

Investigators used witnesses' testimony, security camera footage and other evidence to construct a timeline of what happened and what actions they think Trump took:

• May 2021: National Archives realizes some records from Trump's presidency are missing
• December 2021: Archives requests the documents from the former president
• January 2022:  Archives received 15 boxes of material that had been stored at Mar-a-Lago, some of which were found to contain classified material
• February 2022: The matter is referred to the Justice Department
• May 2022: After several back-and-forths with Trump's legal team, the Justice Department issues a subpoena for additional records they believe to be in the former president's Florida home
• Investigators believe after that subpoena arrived, storage boxes, including some containing classified material, were moved from a Mar-a-Lago storage area, so Trump personally examined some of them
• June 2023: Three FBI agents and one DOJ attorney go to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve the additional material. They were given a single Redweld envelope, double-wrapped in tape, containing the documents, according to later court filings. That envelope contained 38 records with classification markings, including five papers marked confidential, 16 marked secret and 17 marked top secret.
• August 2023: DOJ applied for a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago, citing 'probable cause' that additional presidential records and records containing classified information remained at Trump's Florida home. Court papers show that the original search warrant application showed agents believed that 'evidence of obstruction will be found at the premises.'
• August 8, 2023: FBI agents raid Mar-a-Lago: They recover 18 documents marked as top secret, 54 marked secret, 31 marked as confidential, and 11,179 government documents or photographs that had no classification markings.

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told The Washington Post: 'The witch-hunts against President Trump have no basis in facts or law. The deranged special counsel and the DoJ have now resorted to prosecutorial misconduct by illegally leaking information to corrupt the legal process and weaponize the justice system in order to manipulate public opinion and conduct election interference, because they are clearly losing all across the board.' 

The Justice Department has been investigating potential mishandling of classified material found at Mar-a-Lago (above) for over a year

Some of the documents discovered in Trump's posession during the August 8, 2022 federal raid on Mar-a-Lago

But federal officals have new testimony in their investigation.

Trump's valet, Walt Nauta, testified he moved boxes at Mar-a-Lago at Trump's direction after the subpoena was issued. There is video surveillance footage corroborating his account.

Additionally, investigators have the emails and texts of Molly Michael, an assistant to Trump who followed him from the White House to Florida before she left that job last year. 

Those emails and texts have given the investigators a detailed understanding of the day-to-day activity at Mar-a-Lago during the critical moments. 

Additionally, investigators have asked witnesses if Trump showed a particular interest in material relating to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.

Trump appointed Milley to the position but had a falling out with him after reports revealed Milley tried to rein him in during his term. Milley also expressed regret he walked with Trump to St John's Episcopal church across Lafayette Park for a photo-op during the Black Lives Matter protests in June 2021. Milley also testified to the January 6th congressional committee investigating Trump's role in the insurrection.

At least two dozen people - including Mar-a-Lago staff and those in Trump's current inner circle - have been subpoenaed in the classified documents investigation, CNN reported last month.

Walt Nauta, aid to former President Donald Trump, at the far left on Trump Force One, has spoken to investigators

Investigators also have texts and emails from Molly Michael, who served as Oval Office Coordinator in the White House (above left) and followed Trump to Florida

Trump communications aide Margo Martin was subpoenaed and testified before a federal grand jury hearing evidence in the classified documents case

Donald Trump apparently showed an interest in documents related to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley - above right with Trump in June 2020

Trump's communications aide Margo Martin, who worked in the White House and followed him to Florida, appeared before the grand jury in Washington, DC. 

Housekeeper and restaurant servers have also spoken to the federal grand jury as investigators talk to people who may have seen or heard things while on their daily duties Trump's Florida home, which is also a private club.

'They're casting an extremely wide net – anyone and everyone who might have seen something,' a source told CNN about the subpoenas.

The Justice Department has been investigating potential mishandling of classified material by Trump for about a year. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland assigned Smith as special counsel on Nov. 18.  

Smith’s team has been presenting witnesses and evidence to a grand jury in Washington focused on the Mar-a-Lago probe.

At the same courthouse, a separate federal grand jury is hearing evidence in a separate federal investigation related to efforts to block the results of the 2020 election.

In New York, Trump is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday on charges related to hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. And, in Georgia, a grand jury is hearing evidence about an attempt to change the 2020 presidential election results in that state.