Warrant used to search Trump’s home alleges concealment of evidence and other crimes – National

The warrant used to search Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate this week suggests the former US president is being investigated for obstructing and concealing evidence by withholding official classified documents.

The document, unsealed by a federal judge on Friday after Trump’s legal team refused to block its publication, lists three federal laws that Trump allegedly violated, including the Espionage Act, which prohibits the unauthorized possession of national security information that could assist a foreign adversary. harm the United States

The warrant is for « all physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, proceeds of crime or other unlawfully possessed items » in violation of those laws.

A property receipt listing all items taken from Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida home and political headquarters reveals that FBI agents found and deleted 11 sets of documents marked as « top secret » or classified during the Monday’s search, along with several other documents.

The document provided few details about what had been recovered. Among the items not considered classified or secret were a clemency order for Trump adviser Roger Stone and unspecified documents relating to French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as handwritten notes and photo binders.

In a statement on Friday, Trump claimed that the documents seized by agents from his Florida club were « all declassified », and argued that he would have turned over the documents to the US Department of Justice if asked.

While sitting presidents have the power to declassify information, that power lapses as soon as they leave office and it was unclear whether the documents in question had already been declassified. Trump also kept the documents despite multiple requests from agencies, including the National Archives, to turn over presidential records in accordance with federal law.

Trump’s legal team filed a notice shortly before the 3 p.m. ET deadline on Friday, advising the US Justice Department that it would not oppose the unsealing of the warrant, which was requested on Thursday. Trump had already publicly said he would allow the document to be released Monday, along with a receipt for the material taken by FBI agents from his Florida home.

Shortly after the Trump team filed, a federal judge in Florida ordered that the warrant and property receipt be unsealed.

The department asked a court to have the warrant unsealed over what Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday was « a significant public interest » in the unprecedented search of a former president’s home.

Garland and the FBI faced significant public and political pressure to learn more about the research, prompting speculation from both sides of the political divide and a slew of attacks from Trump’s fellow Republicans. .

With files from The Associated Press