The discovery of the classified documents formed the body of evidence cited by the Justice Department in the search warrant.
FBI agents secured permission from a federal judge to search Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence after finding the former US president had illegally removed 184 classified documents from the White House, according to a censored affidavit -the censored document of the Department of Justice justifying the search of his home in Florida – released yesterday, Friday.
Trump himself voluntarily turned over those classified documents — mixed with magazines, newspapers, photographs, letters, notes and other miscellaneous material — in 15 boxes to the US National Archives in January, after the federal agency, which is responsible for to preserve presidential and government documents, demanded the former president return his records to Washington.
The discovery of those classified documents — which include 67 classified as “Confidential,” 92 as “Secret” and 25 as “Top Secret” — formed the body of evidence cited by the Justice Department in the search warrant that a judge approved on 5 August – three days before the FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
“The government is conducting a criminal investigation into the improper removal and storage of classified information in unauthorized locations, as well as the unlawful concealment or removal of government records,” an unnamed FBI agent wrote in the 32-page affidavit supporting the FBI search warrant.
“In addition, there is probable cause to believe that additional documents that contained classified NDI (national defense information) information or that are presidential records subject to records retention requirements still remain at Trump’s residence,” the agent noted in the affidavit, noting that he has trained in counterintelligence and espionage investigations. “There is also probable cause to believe evidence of obstruction” of justice will be found at his home, he adds.
The FBI agent also clarifies that the investigation began following a “request” by the US National Archives to the Department of Justice on February 9. That request, along with material found in May when agents examined the 15 boxes Trump had delivered, as well as information from several witnesses, led to the FBI’s Aug. 8 search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
During that raid, dozens of agents took 27 additional boxes of government and presidential records, including 11 sets of documents Trump took with him when he left the White House, according to an FBI list of items taken from the home. of the former president earlier this month.
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