A federal judge in Florida has unsealed the search warrant served on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-lago estate Monday in what Justice Department officials said was an attempt by the FBI to reclaim classified materials improperly removed from the White House last year.
A copy of the warrant and receipts for the items seized by FBI, which describes a range of highly classified material — some above “top secret” — is embedded below. One noteworthy document indicates the FBI’s investigation encompasses multiple criminal statutes, including a provision of the Espionage Act that outlaws unauthorized “gathering, transmitting or losing” of U.S. defense information.
[Click here to see the documents if the embed doesn’t work on your device.]
The 7-page document, sealed until Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, shows the FBI’s search of Trump’s private club and residence included the former president’s personal office, storage rooms, and other areas open to Trump and his staff. The FBI was not allowed to enter areas occupied or rented by the club’s other members, the paperwork says.
“They even broke into my safe,” Trump said in a statement the day of the raid.
The FBI sought documents with classified marking as well as records covered under the President Records Act, a post-Watergate law aimed at preventing the destruction of White House records. (Only the National Archives and Records Administration can authorize the destruction of records created during a presidency, and it will only do so when the records no longer have “administrative, historical, informational, or evidentiary value.”)
The FBI was also after any communications that might pertain to the transfer or storage of national defense information and classified material, the paperwork shows.
The last three pages contain receipts describing the materials seized from the Florida property. They list numerous unspecified documents and containers, including a clemency document Trump signed on behalf of his longtime advisor and confidant Roger Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress during its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2020 election.
Among the seized items are numerous documents classified “secret” and “top secret,” the papers show. Some were marked both “top secret” and “compartmentalized,” meaning they contain classified information that’s tightly controlled to minimize exposure even at the highest levels of government.
Secret compartmentalized information can include details about intelligence sources and methods, some the intelligence community’s most closely guarded secrets.
The Washington Post reported Friday, citing sources familiar with the investigation, that classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the documents sought after by the FBI. If true, this would cast serious doubt on claims by Trump that he’d already declassified the documents before taking them. There are certain materials that even a U.S. president is not permitted to disclose to the public, including nuclear secrets and information that might reveal sensitive sources and methods of intelligence gathering.
This is a developing story…
A federal judge in Florida has unsealed the search warrant served on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-lago estate Monday in what Justice Department officials said was an attempt by the FBI to reclaim classified materials improperly removed from the White House last year.
A copy of the warrant and receipts for the items seized by FBI, which describes a range of highly classified material — some above “top secret” — is embedded below. One noteworthy document indicates the FBI’s investigation encompasses multiple criminal statutes, including a provision of the Espionage Act that outlaws unauthorized “gathering, transmitting or losing” of U.S. defense information.
[Click here to see the documents if the embed doesn’t work on your device.]
The 7-page document, sealed until Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, shows the FBI’s search of Trump’s private club and residence included the former president’s personal office, storage rooms, and other areas open to Trump and his staff. The FBI was not allowed to enter areas occupied or rented by the club’s other members, the paperwork says.
“They even broke into my safe,” Trump said in a statement the day of the raid.
The FBI sought documents with classified marking as well as records covered under the President Records Act, a post-Watergate law aimed at preventing the destruction of White House records. (Only the National Archives and Records Administration can authorize the destruction of records created during a presidency, and it will only do so when the records no longer have “administrative, historical, informational, or evidentiary value.”)
The FBI was also after any communications that might pertain to the transfer or storage of national defense information and classified material, the paperwork shows.
The last three pages contain receipts describing the materials seized from the Florida property. They list numerous unspecified documents and containers, including a clemency document Trump signed on behalf of his longtime advisor and confidant Roger Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress during its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2020 election.
Among the seized items are numerous documents classified “secret” and “top secret,” the papers show. Some were marked both “top secret” and “compartmentalized,” meaning they contain classified information that’s tightly controlled to minimize exposure even at the highest levels of government.
Secret compartmentalized information can include details about intelligence sources and methods, some the intelligence community’s most closely guarded secrets.
The Washington Post reported Friday, citing sources familiar with the investigation, that classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the documents sought after by the FBI. If true, this would cast serious doubt on claims by Trump that he’d already declassified the documents before taking them. There are certain materials that even a U.S. president is not permitted to disclose to the public, including nuclear secrets and information that might reveal sensitive sources and methods of intelligence gathering.
This is a developing story…