United States
FBI confiscated top secret documents from Trump
Donald Trump (r) and security guards in New York. The former US President repeatedly speaks of a witch hunt in connection with investigations against him. photo
© Julia Nikhinson/AP/dpa
What did the FBI find in Mar-a-Lago? According to a list that has now been released, several of the confiscated documents were classified as “Top Secret/SCI”. According to US media, it was also about nuclear weapons.
The FBI seized several top-secret documents during a search of former US President Donald Trump’s Florida home. This emerges from the receipt for the confiscated items, which a court in the US state of Florida published together with the search warrant at the request of US Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Trump had previously written on the social network Truth Social, which he co-founded, that all documents had been released, so the secrecy had been lifted.
According to the FBI list, agents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate found a set of Top Secret/SCI documents that are top secret and can only be viewed at special government facilities. Four sentences were classified as “Top Secret”, three more as “secret”, the remaining three as “confidential”. The Washington Post reported that the FBI was also looking for classified documents about nuclear weapons.
According to the list, the agents also confiscated numerous boxes, a pardon for Trump confidante Roger Stone, unspecified information about the “President of France” and two photo albums. The papers that have now been published say nothing about the content of the documents.
The search warrant lists three criminal offenses as possible grounds for possible seizures: collecting, transmitting or losing defense information, removing or destroying official documents, and destroying or altering documents to impede investigations. The first point can be punished with up to ten years imprisonment, the second up to three years and the third up to 20 years imprisonment.
Attorney General Garland stressed on Thursday that the presumption of innocence applies. At the same time, he underlined that a federal court had authorized the search “after the necessary determination of sufficient suspicion”. Trump had sharply criticized the operation and accused the government of his successor, Joe Biden, of abusing the FBI for political purposes.
Trump’s handling of documents grounds for search
The process is considered unprecedented in US history. The pressure on Garland had since grown to take a stand. Trump was not at his home during the search. He and other Republicans have strongly criticized the search and accused Democratic US President Joe Biden of politicizing the FBI. According to the White House, Biden did not know in advance about the search of the Trump property.
The background to the search was apparently Trump’s handling of documents from his tenure. Earlier this year, it was revealed that the National Archives, which is responsible for storing presidential correspondence, suspected several boxes of confidential material were in Mar-a-Lago. Trump finally handed over several documents to the agency in January.
According to US media reports, there was then a further exchange between investigators and Trump’s lawyers. Officials suspected that Trump or his team were continuing to withhold important documents, the Washington Post wrote, citing anonymous sources. The FBI is said to have taken twelve boxes.
At his appearance on Thursday, Garland warned against questioning the professionalism of his employees. “I would like to address the recent baseless attacks on the professionalism of FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors: I will not stand by while their integrity is unfairly attacked,” he said.
fear of violence
After the Trump raid, law enforcement officials were sometimes heavily criticized. Concerns about violent attacks also grew. “Violence against law enforcement agencies is not a solution – no matter what or who someone is angry about,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said earlier in Omaha, Nebraska.
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Meanwhile, a gunman tried to break into an FBI field office in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Thursday. When the police confronted him, he fled, the FBI said. Nothing was initially known about the man’s motives. The broadcaster CNN reported that the attacker was shot dead by the police after a chase.