Former Trump aide confirms he testified before federal grand jury

An associate for former President Trump testified Wednesday before a federal grand jury in Florida hearing evidence in the case of Trump’s handling of classified materials. 

“Today, in what can only be described as a bogus and deeply troubling effort to use the power of government to ‘get’ Trump, I fulfilled a legal obligation to testify in front a federal grand jury and I answered every question honestly,” Taylor Budowich, a former Trump spokesperson, wrote on Twitter.

“America has become a sick and broken nation—a decline led by Joe Biden and power hungry Democrats,” he added. “I will not be intimidated by this weaponization of government. For me, the need to unite our nation and make America great again has never been more clear than it is today.”

Budowich previously served as a spokesperson for Trump after he left the White House. He is now the head of MAGA Inc., a super PAC backing the former president’s 2024 bid.

The Florida grand jury hearing testimony is the latest development in the investigation by special counsel Jack Smith into whether Trump mishandled classified documents after leaving office in 2021. A spate of recent activity has spurred chatter and predictions from legal experts that Smith could be preparing to indict Trump.

Trump’s attorneys met earlier this week with Justice Department officials, including Smith. Experts said the meeting was likely an opportunity for Trump’s legal team to raise any issues they may have with the investigation.

The National Archives spent months seeking the return of presidential records after Trump left office, with Trump’s team eventually turning over a tranche that included nearly 200 classified records. That ignited the Justice Department investigation that spurred the August search of the property, where the FBI found more than 100 more classified records.

Trump has offered various defenses, including that he had the right to take the documents and that he could unilaterally declassify them without going through any formal process.