A federal judge on Friday Opening the inspection note and receipt of ownership From the FBI’s search for the former president Donald TrumpMar-a-Lago Resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
The documents show that the research was a step to gather evidence in a national security investigation into the mishandling of classified documents. Trump owns the sprawling property, which is his primary residence as well as a members-only club and resort.
The FBI recovered 11 sets of classified documents from its search, including some material marked “top secret/SCI” — one of the highest levels of classification, according to documents from the search warrant issued Friday.
Here are some of the key things we learned from unsealed documents:
The crimes specified in the order: The search warrant identifies three federal crimes that the Department of Justice is considering as part of its investigation:
- Espionage Law Violations
- Obstruction of justice
- Criminal handling of government records
The inclusion of the crimes indicates that the Department of Justice had probable cause to investigate those crimes because it was collecting evidence in the search, but no charges were brought against anyone.
What the FBI recovered: One of the newly disclosed documents is a search warrant “receipt” that lists items the FBI collected from Mar-a-Lago. This document reveals that FBI agents removed more than 20 boxes from Trump’s resort and residence in Palm Beach, along with folders of photos, collections of classified government materials and at least one handwritten memo.
According to the search warrant receipt, federal agents confiscated:
- One set of “top secret/SCI” documents.
- 4 sets of ‘top secret’ documents
- 3 sets of “secret” documents
- 3 sets of “secret” documents.
The receipt of the order did not detail what these confidential documents were, but these were among the items taken:
- Document on the pardon of Roger Stone, a staunch Trump ally who was convicted in 2019 of lying to Congress during his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Material about the stone taken from Mar-a-Lago is listed in the order’s receipt as “Executive Grant of Mercy: Roger” Jason Stone Jr.
- Article about the “President of France”.
Authorized search areas: The court documents also provide new details about the search process itself and reveal that FBI agents were only allowed to access specific locations within Mar-a-Lago as they combed the Trump resort residence for possible evidence of crimes.
The judge authorized the FBI to search what he called “Office 45”, as well as “all other rooms or areas” in Mar-a-Lago that were available to Trump and his staff to store boxes and documents. An FBI warrant request to the judge specifically said that federal agents would avoid areas rented or used by third parties, “such as Mar-a-Lago members” and “private guest suites.”
Read more about the search warrant over here.
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