Trump search warrant: FBI removed sensitive documents from Mar-a-Lago

• Agents removed 11 sets of documents, some of which had the marking “TS/SCI,” which indicates that they included information that would have a “exceptionally grave” negative impact on US national security.
• Trump claimed the items were declassified and denied any misconduct.
• In a statement released on Friday night, Mr. Trump’s administration insisted that the president had utilized his power to declassify the records.

According to a search warrant, the FBI acquired top-secret documents this week during a search of former US President Donald Trump’s Florida residence.

Agents removed 11 sets of documents, some of which had the marking “TS/SCI,” which indicates that they included information that would have a “exceptionally grave” negative impact on US national security.

Mr. Trump claimed the items were declassified and denied any misconduct.

It was the first time a former president’s house had been searched for evidence in a case.

The list of objects was released on Friday after a court unsealed a seven-page document that contained the search warrant for Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach.

More than 20 cartons of papers, including a photo binder, a handwritten note, vague details regarding the “President of France,” and a clemency petition composed on behalf of longtime Trump associate Roger Stone, were allegedly seized on Monday.

The stockpile consists of four sets of top secret documents, three sets of “secret documents,” and three sets of “confidential” information.

According to the order, FBI agents were investigating possible Espionage Act infractions, which make it unlawful to store or communicate potentially damaging national security material.

It is against the law to remove any items or documents that are classified. While in power, Mr. Trump enhanced the penalties for the crime, which are now up to five years in jail.

The search warrant specifies that storage areas and the “45 office” at Mar-a-Lago will be inspected, but not Mr. Trump and his staff’s personal guest bedrooms.

On Thursday, the justice department requested a judge to make it public, a move that is unusual given the ongoing investigation.

Three days before it was carried out on Monday, August 8th, it was allowed by a judge on August 5th.

In a statement released on Friday night, Mr. Trump’s administration insisted that the president had utilised his power to declassify the records.

According to the statement, “He had a standing order that materials taken out of the Oval Office and brought into the residence were presumed to be declassified.”

“The President of the United States has sole authority to classify and declassify documents.”

It is ludicrous to think that declassification requires the approval of some paper-pusher bureaucrat who has been granted classification authority by the president.

It is questionable if this defence would hold up in court, according to legal experts quoted in US media. In order to declassify information, the president must adhere to a process, according to lawyer and former justice department employee Tom Dupree.

“Forms must be filled out by them. They must grant certain authorizations. These papers cannot simply be labelled as declassified. They must follow a procedure, but it’s unclear whether it was followed in this case.”

President Joe Biden’s administration, according to a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, Taylor Budowich, “is in blatant damage control after their disastrous raid.”

“Leaking lies and innuendos to try to explain away the weaponization of government against their major political opponent,” claimed Mr. Budowich of the administration.

Conservative allies of Mr. Trump have also denounced the raid as a political hit job as he mulls a 2024 presidential candidacy.

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