According to documents reviewed by Fox News, the FBI seized classified records from Mar-a-Lago, the Florida residence of former President Donald Trump. FBI agents executed a warrant at the estate on August 8. Mr. Trump claims the records had been declassified and that he would have handed them over on request.
Donald Trump (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The warrant, signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, authorized the FBI to search “the ‘45 Office,’ all storage rooms, and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by FPOTUS and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate,” and to seize “all physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed [in violation of US Code].”
Agents removed 20 boxes of materials from the estate, according to the property receipt reviewed by Fox News. Among those materials were “various” documents that are subject to different levels of classification: “four sets of top secret documents, three sets of secret documents, and three sets of confidential documents.”
Responding to this news, the former president posted on TRUTH Social: “Number one, it was all declassified. Number two, they didn’t need to ‘seize’ anything. They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago.” He added, “It was in secured storage, with an additional lock put on as per their [the FBI’s] request.”
Following considerable pressure, the Department of Justice filed a motion to unseal both the warrant and the property receipt. Mr. Trump had also wanted these documents made public.
