WASHINGTON — 14 of the 15 boxes seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate earlier this year contained classified documents, including those at the top secret level discovered this month. According to an FBI affidavit released this month, Gay clarified the legitimacy of the property
The 32-page affidavit, even in its heavily redacted form, is the most recent of the government records being stored at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate since he left the White House and became a government concern. . It presents a detailed account of where the documents were illegally kept.
An FBI agent wrote on the first page of the affidavit seeking the judge’s permission, “one charge related to the improper release and storage of classified information in unauthorized government locations, as well as the unlawful concealment or removal of government records.” .” criminal investigation. underway.” for a warrant to search the property.
The sworn statement doesn’t give new insights concerning the 11 arrangements of grouped records recuperated during the Aug. 8 search at March-a-Lago, but instead concerns a separate batch of 15 boxes that the National Archives and Records Administration Returned home in January. received from
In those boxes, officials found 184 documents with classification symbols, 25 of which were marked as top secret, according to the affidavit. Specialists inspecting the cases found markings connected with data given by private human sources as well as data connected with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Also, the affidavits reveal additional details about an ongoing criminal investigation that has brought new legal threats to Trump as he prepares for another presidency. It also details the amount of sensitive government documents stored at Mar-a-Lago instead of being handed over to the National Archives.
The FBI presented a testimony, or sworn proclamation, to an adjudicator to get a warrant to look through Trump’s property. An affidavit usually contains important information about an investigation, in which agents explain why they want to search a particular property and why they believe they are likely to find evidence of a possible crime there.
In a different record unlocked Friday, Justice Department authorities made sense of that “notwithstanding policing, the security and protection of a critical number of non military personnel witnesses, too as the integrity of certain information, must be redacted.” Was. The investigation is going on.”
The affidavits are routinely sealed pending investigation, leading Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart to decide to release portions of them.
In recognition of the extraordinary public interest in the investigation, Reinhardt on Thursday ordered the department to make public a redacted version of the affidavit by Friday. The order came hours after government policing documented bits of an oath under seal that they need to keep secret as their examination advances.
Previously made public documents show that the FBI obtained 11 sets of classified documents from the estate, including information marked at the top secret level. They also indicate that federal agents are investigating possible violations of three federal laws, including one that governs the collection, transmission or loss of defense information under the Espionage Act. Other laws address the concealment, destruction, or deletion of records in federal investigations and the destruction, alteration, or falsification of records.
It’s possible that the affidavit, especially in its unreleased form, could shed light on key unanswered questions, including whether Trump has access to sensitive presidential documents — classified documents among them. Accessed by the White House. Why Mar-a-Lago was sent after the release and why Trump and his representatives have not turned over the full tranche of material to the National Archives and Records Administration despite repeated requests.
Previously made public documents show that the FBI obtained 11 sets of classified documents from the estate, including information marked at the top secret level. They also indicate that federal agents are investigating possible violations of three federal laws, including one that governs the collection, transmission or loss of defense information under the Espionage Act. Other laws address the concealment, destruction, or deletion of records in federal investigations and the destruction, alteration, or falsification of records.
It’s possible that the affidavit, especially in its unreleased form, could shed light on key unanswered questions, including whether Trump has access to sensitive presidential documents — classified documents among them. Accessed by the White House. Why Mar-a-Lago was sent after the release and why Trump and his representatives have not turned over the full tranche of material to the National Archives and Records Administration despite repeated requests.
It could also offer additional details of the back-and-forth between Trump and the FBI, including documents released last spring, as well as FBI and Justice Department officials’ assessment of how the material is being stored. .
The Justice Department had previously responded to media organizations’ pleas to make the affidavit public, saying any disclosures could contain private information about witnesses and investigative tactics. But Reinhardt, acknowledging the unusual public interest in the investigation, said last week that he was dissatisfied with keeping the entire document sealed and asked federal officials to present to him privately what he would like to see redacted.
In his order Thursday, Reinhardt said the department made compelling arguments for releasing the extensive versions of the document that were unsealed because, if disclosed, the information would be revealed to a grand jury; identification of witnesses and “innocent parties”; And a description of the “strategy, direction, scope, resources and methods” of the investigation.
However, he likewise said he was fulfilled that “the public authority has met weight of showing its proposed alterations serve the public authority’s genuine advantages in the continuous examination and are consistent with the integrity of the entire affidavit.” ” hai.” The most difficult option is sealing.
