“Top secret” is the highest level, reserved for the most closely held US national security information. There are three primary levels of classification for sensitive government materials: Top secret, secret and confidential. The application also cited probable cause of possible violations of two other statutes that make it illegal to conceal or destroy official US documents. The Justice Department has used the Espionage Act in high-profile cases in recent years including former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, former military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. It did not spell out the details about why investigators have reason to believe such a violation occurred. The law’s section cited as the basis for the warrant prohibits unauthorized possession of national defense information. Prosecutions under it were relatively uncommon until the Justice Department ramped up its use under both Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama to go after leakers of national security information, including leaks to the news media. That law was initially enacted to combat spying. The Justice Department said in the warrant application approved by US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart that it had probable cause to believe violations of the Espionage Act had occurred at Trump’s home. The warrant showed that FBI agents were asked to search a room called “the 45 Office” – Trump was the 45th US president – as well as all other rooms and structures or buildings on the estate used by Trump or his staff where boxes or documents could be stored. Also included in the list was information about the “President of France.” Sensitive information concerning Macron?įBI agents took more than 30 items including more than 20 boxes, binders of photos, a handwritten note and the executive grant of clemency for Trump’s ally and longtime adviser Roger Stone, a list of items removed showed. As such, Trump’s claims that he declassified the documents would have no bearing on the potential legal violations at issue. The search was carried out as part of a federal investigation into whether Trump illegally removed documents when he left office in January 2021 after losing the presidential election two months earlier to Democrat Joe Biden.Īlthough the FBI on Monday carted away material labeled as classified, the three laws cited as the basis for the warrant make it a crime to mishandle government records, regardless of whether they are classified. They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago,” the Republican businessman-turned-politician said. Trump, in a statement on his social media platform, said the records were “all declassified” and placed in “secure storage.” US federal agents were looking for documents relating to nuclear weapons when they raided former President Donald Trump’s home in Florida this week, the Washington Post reported on Thursday (11 August). FBI sought nuclear documents in search of Trump's home
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