'Top secret' documents recovered in raid on Trump home
WASHINGTON, Aug 13, (AFP) - FBI agents recovered documents marked “top secret” during the search of Donald Trump's Florida estate, US media reported, as justice officials were poised to make public the warrant authorising the extraordinary raid on the home of the ex-president.
The Wall Street Journal said FBI agents removed 11 sets of classified documents from Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in the raid, which ignited a political firestorm in an already bitterly divided country.
The newspaper said some of the documents were marked “top secret” and were “meant to be only available in special government facilities.” It said a list of items removed included information about the “President of France.” The Journal said the list was contained in a seven-page document that also includes the warrant to search the palatial Trump estate in Palm Beach.
The Justice Department has asked a Florida judge to unseal the search warrant on Friday barring objections from Trump, who is weighing another White House run in 2024.
The 76- year- old Trump said he would not block the release of the warrant while complaining that he was the victim of “unprecedented political weaponisation of law enforcement” by “radical l e f t Democrat s. ”
Trump and his lawyers have actually had a copy of the search warrant and the receipt listing the property seized by FBI agents for days and they could have revealed the contents previously themselves.
The Wall Street Journal said FBI agents carted away around 20 boxes of items including binders of photos, a handwritten note and the grant of clemency made by Trump to Roger Stone, an ally of the former president.
The Washington Post on Thursday cited anonymous sources close to the investigation as saying classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the papers sought by FBI agents during the raid. Trump himself appeared to deny the claim, posting that the “nuclear weapons issue is a hoax” and even suggesting that the Federal
Bureau of Investigation might have been “planting information” at his home.
The highly unusual move to unseal the search warrant was announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland -- the country's top law enforcement officer -- who said he had “personally approved” the raid on Trump's home.
Garland said he had asked a Florida judge to unseal the warrant because of “substantial public interest in this matter,” and he gave Trump and his legal team until 3:00 pm (1900 GMT) Friday to oppose the motion.
Leading Republicans have rallied around Trump and some members of his party have accused the Justice Department and FBI of partisanship in targeting the ex-president.
In an attack that appeared to be a direct response to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, an armed man tried to storm an FBI office in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Thursday.
The assailant, who was shot dead by police after exchanges of gunfire and an hours-long standoff, reportedly posted on Trump's Truth
Social platform that he hoped his actions would serve as a “call to arms.” Garland on Thursday criticised what he called “unfounded attacks” on the FBI and Justice Department while FBI Director Christopher Wray, a Trump appointee, denounced “violence and threats against law enforcement.” The Justice Department typically does not confirm or deny whether it is investigating someone, and Garland took pains to emphasise the law was being applied fairly to Trump. In a statement on Thursday, Trump said his attorneys had been “cooperating fully” and “the government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it.” In addition to investigations into his business practices, Trump faces legal scrutiny for his efforts to overturn the results of the November 2020 election, and for the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.
Trump was impeached for a historic second time by the House after the Capitol riot -- he was charged with inciting an insurrection -- but was acquitted by the Senate.