Washington Donald Trump’s Florida property search has made headlines around the world; now the partial release of an investigative document reveals new details about the allegations against the former US president. The Washington Department of Justice released documents Friday that authorize the search of the private Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
The White House kept a low profile in a partially released procedural document surrounding the Trump investigation. “This is an independent investigation led by the Department of Justice. The president believes it is important for the Department of Justice to maintain this independence,” said spokeswoman Carine Jean-Pierre.
However, half of the more than 30 pages have been blacked out to protect sensitive information. The document also provides information about the FBI’s initial suspicions against Trump.
According to it, 14 of the 15 76-year-old boxes shipped from Mar-a-Lago to the National Archives earlier this year contained confidential and sometimes secret documents. 184 documents were classified: 67 as “confidential”, 92 as “confidential” and 25 as “top secret”. Some had handwritten notes, perhaps by Trump himself. The FBI alleged that the secret documents were found along with other papers.
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The investigation revealed that classified documents, including national defense information, were stored in an unauthorized location at Trump’s home, he said.
The FBI argued that there was reason to believe the other classified documents. “There is also reason to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found on campus.” It was not initially clear whether this was intended to obstruct investigations or to interfere with the government’s normal procedures regarding the documents.
Updated US Department of Justice report page
A Florida judge ordered the paper’s partial publication because of the overall public interest. Several media asked to be revealed in court. The FBI raided Mar-a-Lago on August 8th. The background of the Republican is the management of the documents of his presidential term. Because Trump kept records of his personal assets, he may have broken the law. It is now being investigated.
The search created quite a stir. Investigators who raided the former president’s home consider it unprecedented in American history. Moreover, speculation has been fueling for weeks that Trump may announce his bid for the next presidential election in November 2024. So the research is doubly politically sensitive.
The former president criticized the actions of politically motivated officials and defended himself from the trial. Also on Friday, he expressed his anger and called the action against him a “witch hunt” once again. Republicans see the discovery as an attempt to prevent him from running again. That could help mobilize his base: In the past, Trump has sought to gain political mileage from the role of a supposed victim confused by the “establishment” and political competition.
Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida
The FBI search created an uproar.
At the same time, the Ministry of Justice is conducting a special investigation in this unprecedented case. He is accused of having a political agenda behind the investigation. While the expansion is unusual, so is the publication of the necessary procedural documents, although large parts of them have so far been blacked out. In particular, the actual justification for the search warrant that has just been released is not something that is usually leaked in an ongoing investigation.
Sensing great pressure, Attorney General Merrick Garland moved to release the search warrants and evidence of the seized items. As such, the agents found exactly what they were looking for in Trump: among other things, they confiscated a set of documents classified as “Top Secret/SCI”, which are top secret and used only by specialized government agencies. can be seen in section Four sets of documents were classified as “top secret”, three as “secret” and the remaining three as “confidential”.
Trump denies the allegations: He says the documents have been released and declassified. But this is not so easy. Current presidents have broad powers to release and declassify information. However, there is a formal process for this, and sometimes further approval is required. In addition, this does not necessarily mean that the documents were declassified, as the unauthorized storage of documents related to national defense can also be a criminal offence. This is also clarified in the document that has just been published – in a footnote.
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