An FBI affidavit used to justify searching Donald Trump’s Florida abode has revealed why investigators believed the former president was harbouring highly classified documents.
The US Justice Department released the heavily redacted 38-page affidavit, of which 11 whole pages have been blacked out, after US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered it to be unsealed.
The legal document reveals that after Mr Trump left office in January 2021, he still held 15 boxes of government documents at his Mar-a-Lago property.
When the US National Archives later managed to recover the boxes, they found 14 of the 15 boxes held classified papers including those marked “confidential”, “secret” and “top secret”.
The secret documents were mixed in with an array of other papers such as magazine clippings and Mr Trump’s notes.
The affidavit said the Justice Department had reason to believe there were more such records sitting in Mr Trump’s home — and not correctly stored — which had not been returned to the government.
The affidavit revealed sections of a letter the justice department sent to Mr Trump urging him to ensure any documents he had removed from the White House were “secured”.
“As I previously indicated to you, Mar-a-Lago does not include a secure location authorized for the storage of classified information,” said the letter.
“As such, it appears that since the time classified documents were removed from the secure facilities at the White House and moved to Mar-a-Lago on or around Januaiy 20, 2021, they have not been handled in an appropriate manner or stored in an appropriate location.
“Accordingly, we ask that the room at Mar-a-Lago where the documents had been stored be secured and that all of the boxes that were moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago (along with any other items in that room) be preserved in that room in their cunent condition until farther notice.”
The affidavit states that based on evidence that more papers may be at Mr Trump’s property, the FBI would conduct a “criminal investigation concerning the improper removal and storage of classified information in unauthorised spaces”.
The investigation was concerned with the “unlawful concealment or removal of government records”.
The unidentified FBI agent also stated in the affidavit: “There is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found at the premises.”
The FBI’s subsequent search in Palm Beach marked a significant escalation in one of the many federal and state investigations Mr Trump is facing from his time in office and in private business.
Mr Trump reacted to the latest development saying “I did nothing wrong”.
“We were essentially attacked. We were broken into. They opened up safes, they brought safecrackers in. They brought many, many FBI agents in – all right before the midterms and all when I have the best poll numbers I’ve ever had,” he said.
“This is a disgrace to our country… and it really never ends.”
After the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, agents carried away more than 20 boxes containing 11 sets of classified government records, some of which were labelled “top secret,” according to court papers.
The affidavit, a document that is not usually made public unless someone is charged with a crime, is a sworn statement outlining the evidence that gave the department probable cause to seek a search warrant.
Prosecutors had asked for the entire document to be sealed to protect the integrity of their ongoing investigation, prompting media companies to file a legal challenge to get it released.
In his order on Thursday, Judge Reinhart said the Justice Department had valid reasons to keep some of the document secret, including the need to protect the identities of witnesses and federal agents as well as the government’s investigation and strategy and grand jury material.
-with AAP
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