FBI recovered top secret documents from Trump’s Florida home
Donald Trump.
FBI agents searched former US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Florida home on Monday and recovered 11 sets of confidential documents, some of which were marked top secret, according to media giant Wall Street Journal.
Trump's lawyers announced that they would not oppose obtaining the search warrant for his Florida residence unsealed from the public, the Justice Department said in a court filing, indicating the opening could take place shortly.
The Justice Department told a federal judge in its warrant application that preceded the search that it had probable cause to believe that Trump violated the Espionage Act, a law that prohibits the possession or transmission of national defense information.
FBI agents took about 20 boxes of articles, photo binders, a handwritten note and the clemency granted by the executive to Trump ally Roger Stone posts a list of items removed from the property.
There was also information about the "President of France" on the list, the authorities said.
The list of documents is contained in a seven-page document which also includes the search warrant for the premises that was granted to the FBI by the US Judge Bruce Reinhart, the newspaper said.
The list did not provide further details about the substance of the documents.
Reported revelations that Trump had documents labeled "top secret" could create serious legal risks for him.
"Top secret" is the highest classification level, reserved for the country's most closely held national security information.
They are usually kept in special government facilities because their disclosure could cause serious damage to national security.
Many federal laws prohibit improper handling of classified material, including the Espionage Act as another law prohibiting the unauthorized removal and storage of classified documents or materials.
Trump increased the penalties for it while in office, making it an offense punishable by up to five years in prison.
On Friday, Trump denied a Washington Post report that an FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago home was for classified documents related to nuclear weapons, writing on his social media account that "the issue of nuclear weapons is a hoax."
