Flood at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort raises suspicions in classified documents case

An employee at Donald Trump’s at Mar-a-Lago resort reportedly flooded a room storing surveillance video logs, one in a string of suspicious incidents surrounding a classified documents probe.

The former US president’s Florida resort was raided by the FBI  last summer when investigators recovered around 300 classified documents, including US secrets that may have come from human spies, from the property.

The raid was part of a federal investigation into Mr Trump’s retention of classified documents after leaving the White House in 2017.

Two months later, as prosecutors sought surveillance footage to track how the records were moved around the resort, a room where computer servers containing surveillance video logs were kept was flooded.

CNN reported on Monday that a staff member at Mar-a-Lago was draining the resort’s pool and managed to cause the flood last October.

However, the IT equipment in the room was not damaged, according to the network.

It is unclear if the room was flooded intentionally, but it is reportedly one in a series of events that federal prosecutors found suspicious.

The circumstances, along with conversations and actions by other Trump staff as the criminal investigation honed in on the Florida resort have caught the attention of prosecutors, according to CNN.

Prosecutors have questioned at least one witness about the flood.

The Justice Department is in the final stages of an investigation into whether Mr Trump, 76, broke the law by removing government records, some containing the nation’s most closely guarded secrets.

The inquiry is being led by special counsel Jack Smith, who is also investigating whether Mr Trump or his associates obstructed their efforts to investigate his retention of government records.

The Justice Department has previously stated in court that it believes “government records were likely concealed and removed from the Storage Room”.

Officials first demanded access to surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago before the FBI raid last August. Investigators sought more footage as more classified documents were later discovered, CNN reported.

Prosecutors for Mr Smith are reportedly examining the handling of surveillance logs and discussions Mr Trump’s staff had about them after they demanded it last summer.

A spokesman for Mr Trump and a lawyer representing the maintenance worker involved in the flooding did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Mr Trump has previously denied any wrongdoing, claiming that he declassified all documents in his possession. A spokesman for his 2024 campaign has previously condemned the investigation as a “political persecution”.