The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday released the much-anticipated affidavit that convinced a federal judge to approve a warrant to search former President Trump’s Florida home.
We’ll take a deep dive into the warrant. Plus, we’ll talk about the 1-year anniversary of the bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed 13 U.S. service members.
Affidavit: 184 classified docs found at Trump’s resort
A redacted FBI affidavit used to convince a judge for a search warrant for former President Trump’s Florida home noted that authorities found 184 classified documents in their initial review of boxes recovered from the home in an effort that began just a few months after he left office.
Authorities’ concern that Trump may have additional national security information at his private residence was spurred by a review of the 15 boxes recovered by the National Archives in January.
Inside the affidavit: The affidavit indicates that among the 184 documents were 25 that contained top secret information, including those gained from “clandestine human sources,” information prohibited from being shared with foreign governments, and information obtained by monitoring “foreign communications signals.”
The 28-page affidavit contains numerous redactions but indicates authorities believed “evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed” would be found at Mar-a-Lago.
Entirely redacted is a provision explaining why the government believed additional “classified [national defense information]” would be found on the premises.
What else is new? The affidavit offers new information about the extent of the saga to recover documents from Mar-a-Lago. The document says the National Archives first reached out about retrieving records as early as May 6, 2021 — just a few months after Trump left office.
Yet it wasn’t until late that year that the Trump team alerted Archives that they had 12 boxes ready for pick up. The agency would instead leave with 15.
Trump’s response: In a statement from Trump shortly after the affidavit’s release, the former president called the document “a total public relations subterfuge by the FBI & DOJ” that was not reflective of “our close working relationship regarding document turnover – WE GAVE THEM MUCH.”
A few disclaimers: Trump has not been charged in connection with the search, and the affidavit does not name him as having potentially violated various statutes, instead saying evidence of violations may be found at the premises.
Trump had called for the release of both the warrant and the affidavit. He filed a separate case, however, seeking an injunction to stall the FBI’s investigation and asking a court to appoint a special master for the case. Doing so would let an outside party approved by the court first review the evidence taken during the search before the FBI can review it.