Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, a bipartisan body of the US Congress, called on Sunday (14) that the US Department of Justice provide access to classified material that was found in the home of former President Donald Trump on the 8th.
The request, made by Democrat Mark Warner and Republican Marco Rubio, also includes an assessment of potential harm to national security from possible mishandling of documents, said a spokesperson for the committee charged with overseeing the handling of confidential information.
The request comes amid heightened parliamentary pressure for details about the contents of the files and the unprecedented police operation at the former president’s home. While Democrats focus on the legal gravity of the case, Republicans express skepticism and criticize the motives behind the search.
Trump is being investigated for possible crimes of espionage, obstruction of justice and destruction of government materials. Last Monday, FBI agents removed 20 boxes from his Mar-a-Lago mansion, containing 11 sets of documents with some sort of classified classification.
According to the Financial Times, the Democratic leader of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, has called for a review of the damage to US interests due to Trump’s decision to keep a “treasury of secret material” after leaving the White House. in January 2021.
“What is, to me, most disturbing here is the degree to which . . . it appears to be intentional on the part of the president — keeping these documents after the administration has requested them back. And that adds another layer of concern.” said Schiff.
According to him, top secret documents or documents classified as “Sensitive Compartmentalized Information” can cause extremely serious damage to national security if they are released. “The fact that they were in an insecure place that is secured with nothing more than a padlock, or whatever security there is in a hotel, is deeply alarming,” he told CBS.
Representative Mike Turner, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN on Sunday that the Joe Biden administration should provide more details about what prompted the search. “Congress is saying, ‘Show us. We want to know: what did the FBI say? What did they find?'” he asked.
The material taken from Trump’s home by FBI agents contained 11 sets of documents with some sort of confidential or secret marking. Some even belonged to categories that only allow viewing within a secure government facility. The contents of the files, however, are still unknown.
In the American press, there are mentions that the documents include information about nuclear research. On Telegram, the former president said that the allegation “is a hoax”.
On Thursday (11), after a series of allegations of political persecution, US Attorney General Merrick Garland, secretary of the Department of Justice, to which the FBI reports, went on TV to say that he personally approved the operation, indicating only having made this decision after trying less invasive measures beforehand.
However, pressure from the president’s allies continues. On Sunday, Republicans stepped up calls for the release of an FBI statement outlining the detailed justification that prompted a federal judge to issue a search warrant on Trump’s home. The opening of such statements, which could expose sources of information and other details about the nature of the documents, is highly unusual and would require court approval, according to Reuters.
“The Justice Department should show that this wasn’t just a ‘fishing expedition,’ that they had a reason to go in and do this, that they exhausted all other means,” Republican Senator Mike Rounds told NBC. “If they can’t do that, then we have a serious problem on our hands,” he added.
The Republicans’ requests came amid reports that the FBI and Department of Homeland Security were noticing an increase in threats to agents following the search of Trump’s home.
In a statement, the FBI said it is always concerned about threats to law enforcement and that it works with other agencies to assess and respond to such issues, “which are reprehensible and dangerous.”
Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent and Pennsylvania prosecutor, said he was concerned about the safety of federal law enforcement officers, adding that “everyone needs to ask for calm.” On CBS’ “Face the Nation,” he said the operation “was an unprecedented action that needs to be backed up by unprecedented justification” and the statement of probable cause would show whether that standard had been met — even if it was shown to lawmakers. in a confidential briefing.
“I encouraged all my colleagues on the left and right to reserve judgment and not get ahead because we don’t know what this document contains. It will answer a lot of questions.”
