FBI looked for nuclear documents during raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home: report
- The Washington Post said it was not clear if such documents were recovered when federal agents searched Trump’s Florida resort this week
- The FBI retrieved about 10 boxes from the property during the search which the Republican has portrayed it as political retribution
It was not clear if such documents were recovered at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, the Post said. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.
The US Justice Department asked a judge on Thursday to make public the warrant that authorised the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, after Trump, a Republican, portrayed it as political retribution.
The request means the public could soon learn more about what investigators were looking for during the unprecedented search of a former president’s home.
The move was part of an investigation into whether Trump illegally removed records from the White House as he left office in January 2021, some of which the Justice Department believes are classified.
FBI conducts ‘raid’ on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, former president says
Attorney General Merrick Garland, the country’s top law enforcement officer and an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, told a news conference that he had personally approved the search. The Justice Department also seeks to make public a redacted receipt of the items seized.
“The department does not take such a decision lightly. 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,” Garland said.
His decision to publicly confirm the search was highly unusual. US law enforcement officials typically do not discuss ongoing investigations to protect people’s rights. In this case, Trump himself announced the search in a Monday night statement.
A source familiar with the matter said the FBI retrieved about 10 boxes from Trump’s property during the search.
Trump was not in Florida at the time of the search. Late on Thursday, he called for the immediate release of documents related to the raid.
“Not only will I not oppose the release of documents related to the un-American, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago, I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents, even though they have been drawn up by radical left Democrats and possible future political opponents, who have a strong and powerful vested interest in attacking me, much as they have done for the last 6 years,” he said on his Truth Social platform.
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FBI raids former US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home
It was unclear whether Trump’s legal team would object to the release of the warrant.
The government has until 3pm ET (1900 GMT) on Friday to let the court know whether Trump’s lawyers will object to unsealing the warrant. The case is before US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who reviewed the warrant to ensure the Justice Department had sufficient probable cause for the search.
While seeking to unseal the warrant, the Justice Department has not asked the judge to unseal the sworn statement in support of the warrant, the contents of which could potentially include classified information.
Two of Trump’s lawyers, Evan Corcoran and John Rowley, did not respond to a request for comment.
In a statement earlier on his Truth Social app, Trump said: “My lawyers and representatives were cooperating fully, and very good relationships had been established. The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it.”
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The unprecedented search marked a significant escalation in one of the many federal and state probes Trump is facing from his time in office and in private business, including a separate probe by the Justice Department into a failed bid by Trump’s allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election by submitting phoney slates of electors.
The investigation into Trump’s removal of records started earlier this year, after the National Archives made a referral to the department.
Former archivist David Ferriero has previously said that Trump returned 15 boxes to the government in January 2022. The archives later discovered some of the items were “marked as classified national security information.”
A couple of months before the search, FBI agents visited Trump’s property to investigate boxes in a locked storage room, according to a person familiar with the visit.
The agents and Corcoran spent a day reviewing materials, the source said. A second source who had been briefed on the matter said the Justice Department also has surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago in its possession.
Garland’s Justice Department has faced fierce criticism and online threats since Monday’s search. Trump supporters and some of his fellow Republicans in Washington accuse Democrats of weaponising the federal bureaucracy to target the former president.
