Lake’s frequent appearances at Mar-a-Lago this past season came months after sources told PEOPLE that she has been vying for the role of Trump’s running mate
Amid his legal woes this past spring, Donald Trump lived as usual at his members-only Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago. And according to a political source, he found company in Republican firebrand Kari Lake, who was spotted frequently at the club in recent months.
Lake — a former news anchor who lost her bid for Arizona governor and, like Trump, claimed that the election was rigged against her — spent a significant portion of her time at Mar-a-Lago during its open season, the source tells PEOPLE. (In the summer months, the property generally clears out and even Trump heads to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.)
“Kari Lake is there every night … She’s there all the time,” the source tells PEOPLE. “There’s a suite there that she practically lives in.”
The source adds that Trump makes most of his public Mar-a-Lago appearances “on the weekends,” when, after dinner, he’s said to “turn the music up” using a playlist he curates himself.
Meanwhile Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, stays further from the spotlight, usually enjoying dinner with her husband on Saturday nights at the club and otherwise keeping to herself.
Lake’s frequent appearances at Mar-a-Lago come months after Trump officially announced his 2024 campaign for president in November, and after sources told PEOPLE that Lake has been vying for the role of his running mate.
“She is working the deal. She wants something bigger, fast, to compensate for her loss in Arizona,” one source previously said.
Lake was endorsed by Trump in her 2022 gubernatorial race and has worked to cast herself in the image of the former president, denying the outcome of both the 2020 presidential election and her own gubernatorial election. (She recently sued Arizona officials, requesting they overturn the results and declare her winner.)
Meanwhile Trump is mired in several legal battles — most notably, an ongoing case in which he has been accused of dozens of federal criminal offenses relating to his handling of classified government documents.
Earlier this month, the former president was accused of 37 criminal offenses: 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information (a violation of the Espionage Act); one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice; one count of withholding a document or record; one count of corruptly concealing a document or record; one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation; one count of scheme to conceal; and one count of false statements and representations.
Related: Donald Trump’s Historic Arraignment: A Full Recap, Plus What Comes Next
US DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Documents stored in a bathroom at Mar-a-Lago
In an unsealed indictment, prosecutors allege Trump retained over 100 classified documents with some of the most sensitive topics originating from seven intelligence agencies, including the CIA, NSA and Department of Defense.
According to the indictment, documents were stored in “a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, [Trump’s] bedroom, and a storage room,” all at Mar-a-Lago.
With his indictment, Trump became the first U.S. president to be charged in a federal investigation (the former president was arraigned earlier this year in a separate criminal investigation at the state level).
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