The details contained in an affidavit and related memo, nearly three weeks after the Aug. 8 search, underscore the high stakes and unprecedented nature of an ongoing criminal probe into whether Trump and his aides took secret government papers and refused to return all of the material — even in the face of repeated demands from senior law enforcement officials.
The affidavit suggests that if some of the classified documents returned from Mar-a-Lago to the National Archives in January had fallen into the wrong hands, they could have revealed sensitive details about human intelligence sources, or how spy agencies intercept the electronic communications of foreign targets.
“There is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found,” the affidavit says.
Federal Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart read the affidavit and approved the search on Aug. 5. Three days later, FBI agents dressed in polos and khakis executed the search warrant at the Palm Beach estate, carting away an additional 20 boxes of items from a bedroom, office and a first-floor storage room, according to an inventory of what was retrieved from the property that was made public earlier this month.
Those boxes contained 11 sets of classified documents, the inventory says.
The warrant authorizing the search said agents were seeking all “physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed in violation of three potential crimes,” including a part of the Espionage Act outlawing gathering, transmitting, or losing national defense information. The warrant also cites destruction of records and concealment or mutilation of government material.
Of the 38-pages in the affidavit, nearly half are entirely or mostly redacted. In a statement after the document was unsealed, Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich, said: “this is a grave travesty, and what is unredacted only further supports President Trump’s position, there was NO reason for a raid — it is all politics!”
Affidavits are detailed documents about an investigation that law enforcement officers submit to judges in hopes that they will approve their applications for search warrants. The sworn document typically contains key information about witnesses, why agents believe evidence of a crime can be found on a certain property or device, and investigative steps taken prior to a search.
It is unusual to make the details of such an affidavit public, particularly in an ongoing investigation. But numerous media organizations and other parties have asked that the document be unsealed, citing the extreme public interest in the case involving a former president who may run again in 2024.
Reinhart granted the request to unseal the affidavit but allowed the Justice Department to propose redactions of information that government officials said could jeopardize the probe or the safety of witnesses.
The affidavit says federal agents sought permission to conduct the search after reviewing the contents of 15 boxes Trump returned to the National Archives earlier this year and finding found documents with classification markings. Some were marked “HCS,” a category of highly classified government information; others related to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and material meant not to be shared with foreign nations. The “HCS” acronym stands for “HUMINT Control Systems” and refers to the government systems used to protect intelligence gathered from secret human sources, the…
Read More: FBI affidavit for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago says 184 classified documents found
