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| Photo Credit: AP. |
An FBI affidavit released Friday reveals that 15 boxes which contained top secret classified documents recovered from former President Donald Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago home were mixed with newspapers, magazines and personal correspondences.
The court
papers said no space or part of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate was authorized for
the storage of classified records.
The court
papers detailed the reasons for the FBI search at the former president’s Palm
Beach estate, including “probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction
will be found,” The Associated Press reports.
The 32-page
affidavit provides detailed information of the government records being stored
at Mar-a-Lago long after Trump left the White House and also reveals the
gravity of the government concerns that the classified documents were being
kept without authorization. The heavily redacted document protects the safety
of witnesses and law enforcement officials and “the integrity of the ongoing
investigation,” according to The Associated Press.
The records
also exposes Trump’s refusal to handover the materials despite months of
entreaties from U.S. officials and his illegal retention of top secret
documents.
“The
government is conducting a criminal investigation concerning the improper
removal and storage of classified information in unauthorized spaces, as well
as the unlawful concealment or removal of government records,” an FBI agent
wrote on the first page of the affidavit, according to The Associated Press.
Trump while
responding to the release of the heavily redacted documents insist on his Truth
Social Friday that he and his representatives had a close working relationship
with the FBI and “GAVE THEM MUCH,” according to The Associated Press.
Trump’s
attorneys said Friday that an independent special master should be appointed to
review the documents taken from the estate, arguing that the redacted affidavit
doesn’t give Trump sufficient information about why the search took place or
what materials were removed, according to The Associated Press.
The
affidavit revealed that 25 of the 184 documents with classification markings
were at the top secret level. Some of the documents had special markings which
suggest they included information from highly sensitive human sources or the
collection of electronic “signals” authorized by a special intelligence court,
The Associated Press reported.
The
affidavit also revealed that some of the classified records were mixed with
other documents, including newspapers, magazines and miscellaneous print-outs.
The
affidavit also showed how agents were authorized to search a large swath of
Mar-a-Lago including Trump’s official post-presidential “45 Office,” storage
rooms and all other areas in which boxes or documents could be stored.
The second
half of the affidavit is highly redacted which makes it impossible to discern
the scope of the ongoing investigation by the Justice Department into
violations of federal laws in relation to the improper removal and storage of classified
records.