The search warrant for Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago home was publicly released Friday showing the FBI recovered 11 sets of classified documents during a raid on Monday. Some of the materials were marked “top secret/SCI” – one of the highest levels of classification, according to documents.
The warrant stated that the Justice Department was looking into three federal crimes – violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice and criminal handling of government records. This means that the Justice Department has probable cause to investigate those offences as it was gathering evidence in the search.
No one has been charged with a crime so far.
Also Read | FBI seized ‘top secret’ documents from Trump home
The warrant receipt indicated that one set of “top secret/SCI,” four sets of “top secret” documents, three sets of “secret” documents, and three sets of “confidential” documents, a potential presidential record, binders of photos and numbered boxes, were taken by federal agents.
The laws cited in the warrant cover “destroying or concealing documents to obstruct government investigations” along with the unlawful removal of government records, according to a copy of the search warrant for his Mar-a-Lago residence. The Espionage Act relates to the “retrieval, storage, or transmission of national defense information or classified material.”
The search warrant indicated that among the searched locations was a room designated as the “45 Office, all storage rooms, and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used” by the former president and his staff.
The warrant receipt also included references to a document related to the 2020 clemency granted to longtime adviser Roger Stone. The FBI agents also recovered material about French president Emmanuel Macron.
Also Read | Trump says he supports DoJ’s call to release Mar-a-Lago search warrant
On Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the department had moved to unseal the search warrant after the former president attacked the raid as being politically driven.
Garland said the Justice Department asked a court to unseal the search warrant “in light of the former president’s public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances and the substantial public interest in this matter.”
Garland at the press conference said, “I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter.”
“The department does not take such a decision lightly,” he said. “Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search, and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken.”
Later, Trump said he supports Merrick Garland’s call to release the search warrant.
Trump wrote on TruthSocial, “Not only will I not oppose the release of documents … I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents.”