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The Department of Justice sought documents more classified than “top secret” when FBI agents raided former President Donald Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago home on Monday. The department wanted documents labeled “special access,” a label for information more classified than “top report,” Washington Examiner reports.
Did Trump take highly classified documents?
The DOJ
believes Trump took some highly level classified information to his West Palm
Beach, Florida residence, and that they were so sensitive that authorities
wanted to take it into possession immediately, according to reports.
Sources
familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity told ABC News and the
New York Times that the DOJ and the FBI were looking for material labeled “special
access,” which is a designation beyond top secret and reserved for documents
accessible only by the highest level security clearances that are only
available to a limited number of individuals.
Government officials alarmed at highly classified documents at Mar-a-Lago
Some of the
documents included information related to some of the most highly classified
U.S. programs, had national security implications, and government officials
expressed concern that allowing the materials to remain at Mar-a-Lago could
leave them vulnerable to foreign adversaries seeking to acquire them, according
to Washington Examiner.
Some of the documents
sought by the FBI contained information on the nation’s nuclear weapons,
according to a report by the Washington Post on Thursday.
No details
have been made about the items taken from the estate.
Did Trump fail to complain with DOJ subpoena on classified documents?
Trump
received a subpoena in the spring in search of documents but authorities
believe he had failed to hand over earlier in the year when 15 boxes of
material from the White House were turned over to the National Archives.
Archivists discovered several pages of classified material and flagged their discovery
to the Justice Department, Washington Examiner cited a report by the New York
Times
Officials
were made to believe that more classified material were at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago,
following notification by the National Archives.
What did FBI agents find at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence?
Investigators
discovered “boxes everywhere” in at least two areas of Trump’s home, including
his personal office and in a storage room near the pool, FBI agents told
NewsNation, Washington Examiner reported. Some of the boxes contained sensitive
material that may be so secret it’s not clear if they will be made public.