The grand jury is in addition to a separate panel that has been meeting in Washington for months to consider charges against Trump over the retention of hundreds of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and potential obstruction of the government’s efforts to reclaim the records.
It is not clear why prosecutors are using an additional grand jury — which was described to the Associated Press by a person insisting on anonymity to discuss secret proceedings — or who might testify before it.
A variety of witnesses, including lawyers for Trump, close aides and officials with the Trump Organization, have appeared over the last year before the grand jury in Washington. But the use of a different grand jury in Florida suggests that prosecutors may also be eyeing at least some potential charges in that state.
The Mar-a-Lago investigation, being led by special counsel Jack Smith’s team of prosecutors, is thought to be in its final stages, with a charging decision expected soon. Trump’s lawyers met at the Justice Department on Monday with officials, including Smith, as part of an effort to raise concerns about what the Trump legal team says is prosecutorial misconduct and to argue against a potential indictment.
The investigation has centered not only on the possession of classified documents, including ones marked top secret, but also on Trump’s refusal to return the records when asked and on possible obstruction. The FBI last year issued a subpoena for classified records at the property and, after coming to suspect that Trump and his representatives had not returned all the documents, returned with a search warrant and recovered an additional 100 documents with classification markings.
Investigators have questioned a Trump associate who was seen on a surveillance camera moving boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago. As part of an obstruction probe centered partially on surveillance footage, the investigators more recently have expressed interest in a worker’s draining of a pool at the resort last October, an act that caused a flood at the property, according to another person who spoke on condition of anonymity. That area of interest was first reported by CNN.
A spokesman for Smith, the special counsel, declined to comment Tuesday night on the existence of another grand jury.