FBI seized top secret documents at Trump's home; Espionage Act cited
Send a link to a friend
[August 13, 2022]
By Sarah N. Lynch
(Reuters) - FBI agents in this week's
search of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Florida home removed 11
sets of classified documents including some marked as top secret, the
Justice Department said on Friday, while also disclosing it had probable
cause to conduct the search based on possible Espionage Act violations.
The bombshell disclosures were made in a search warrant approved by a
U.S. magistrate judge and accompanying documents released four days
after agents searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach. The
Espionage Act, one of three laws cited in the warrant application, dates
to 1917 and makes it a crime to release information that could harm
national security.
Trump, in a statement on his social media platform, said the records
were "all declassified" and placed in "secure storage."
"They didn't need to 'seize' anything. They could have had it anytime
they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago," the
Republican businessman-turned-politician said.
The search was carried out as part of a federal investigation into
whether Trump illegally removed documents when he left office in January
2021 after losing the presidential election two months earlier to
Democrat Joe Biden.
Although the FBI on Monday carted away material labeled as classified,
the three laws cited as the basis for the warrant make it a crime to
mishandle government records, regardless of whether they are classified.
As such, Trump's claims that he declassified the documents would have no
bearing on the potential legal violations at issue.
FBI agents took more than 30 items including more than 20 boxes, binders
of photos, a handwritten note and the executive grant of clemency for
Trump's ally and longtime adviser Roger Stone, a list of items removed
showed. Also included in the list was information about the "President
of France."
The warrant showed that FBI agents were asked to search a room called
"the 45 Office" - Trump was the 45th U.S. president - as well as all
other rooms and structures or buildings on the estate used by Trump or
his staff where boxes or documents could be stored.
The Justice Department said in the warrant application approved by U.S.
Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart that it had probable cause to believe
violations of the Espionage Act had occurred at Trump's home.
That law was initially enacted to combat spying. Prosecutions under it
were relatively uncommon until the Justice Department ramped up its use
under both Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama to go after leakers of
national security information, including leaks to the news media.
The law's section cited as the basis for the warrant prohibits
unauthorized possession of national defense information. It did not
spell out the details about why investigators have reason to believe
such a violation occurred.
The Justice Department has used the Espionage Act in high-profile cases
in recent years including former National Security Agency contractor
Edward Snowden, former military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning and
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
The application also cited probable cause of possible violations of two
other statutes that make it illegal to conceal or destroy official U.S.
documents.
LEVELS OF CLASSIFICATION
There are three primary levels of classification for sensitive
government materials: Top secret, secret and confidential.
"Top secret" is the highest level, reserved for the most closely held
U.S. national security information. Such documents usually are kept in
special government facilities because disclosure could gravely damage
national security.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/081322PIX/news_o71.jpg)
Former U.S. President Donald Trump takes
the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in
Dallas, Texas, U.S., August 6, 2022. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
FBI agents on Monday collected four sets of top secret documents,
three sets of secret documents and three sets of confidential
documents, it was disclosed on Friday. Agents were revealed to have
collected a set of documents labeled "classified/TS/SCI documents,"
a reference to top secret and sensitive compartmented material.
Trump has not been charged with any wrongdoing. It remained unclear
whether any charges would be brought.
AN ESCALATION
Monday's search marked a significant escalation in one of the many
federal and state investigations he is facing from his time in
office and in private business, including a separate one by the
Justice Department into a failed bid by Trump's allies to overturn
the 2020 presidential election by submitting phony slates of
electors.
Trump on Wednesday declined to answer questions during an appearance
before New York state's attorney general in a civil investigation
into his family's business practices, citing his constitutional
right against self-incrimination.
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday announced that the
department asked Reinhart to unseal the warrant. This followed
Trump's claim that the search was political retribution and a
suggestion by him, without evidence, that the FBI may have planted
evidence against him.
Legal experts said Trump's claim that he had declassified the
materials would not be a useful defense should he ever face charges.
"The statute does not even strictly require even that the
information be classified so long as it is relating to the national
defense," Northwestern University law professor Heidi Kitrosser
said, referring to the Espionage Act.
The investigation into Trump's removal of records started this year
after the National Archives and Records Administration, an agency
charged with safeguarding presidential records that belong to the
public, made a referral to the Justice Department.
Republican House of Representatives Intelligence Committee members
on Friday called on Garland and FBI Director Chris Wray to release
the affidavit underpinning the warrant, saying the public needs to
know.
"Because many other options were available to them, we're very
concerned of the method that was used in raiding Mar-a-Lago,"
Representative Michael Turner, the committee's top Republican, told
reporters.
If the affidavit remains sealed, "it will still leave many
unanswered questions," Turner added.
The Justice Department's request to unseal the warrant did not
include a request to unseal the accompanying affidavit, nor has
Trump's legal team publicly made such a motion.
Since Monday's search, the department has faced fierce criticism and
online threats, which Garland have condemned. Trump supporters and
some Republicans in Washington have accused Democrats of weaponizing
the federal bureaucracy to target him even as he mulls another run
for the presidency in 2024.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; additional reporting by
Karen Freifeld and Luc Cohen in New York, Jacqueline Thomsen and
David Morgan in Washington and Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing
by Will Dunham, Ross Colvin, Jonathan Oatis and Howard Goller)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |