One of the documents reportedly taken from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence during the FBI raid last month was one that detailed the military defenses and nuclear capabilities of a foreign government, a new report said Tuesday.
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Court records said the FBI seized nearly 13,000 government documents and photos from Trump’s residence on August 8, but did not reveal all the contents of those documents. Multiple people close to the matter told The Washington Post that some of those documents contained information on top-secret U.S. operations, and one detailed a foreign government’s military defenses and nuke capabilities.
The officials did not identify which nation the document described.
The documents are reportedly of such secrecy that only the president and a few members of his Cabinet would be authorized to access them. The documents require more than just top-secret security clearance; they require special clearances and only for deliberate, need-to-know circumstances.
U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon granted Trump’s request for a special master – a third party official who will examine the thousands of documents taken from Trump’s residence to determine which ones are protected under attorney-client privilege. Trump has said many of the documents are protected under that privilege afforded to former presidents. The Department of Justice maintains it already reviewed the documents for that privilege.
The FBI raided Trump’s home on Aug 8, and seized more than 20 boxes of materials, including binders of photos, a handwritten note, the executive grant of clemency for Roger Stone, and information about the “President of France,” according to an official list of the items that were removed during the search.
The search warrant to raid Trump’s home revealed that the FBI is investigating Trump for a potential violation of the Espionage Act, as well as the removal or destruction of records and obstruction of an investigation. Conviction of such crimes can result in fines or imprisonment.
Trump criticized the FBI raid as an unprecedented abuse of law enforcement power, describing it as “totally unheard of and unthinkable” and “a sneak attack on democracy.”
