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FBI collects top-secret docs from Mar-a-Lago, warrant cites Espionage Act

PHOTO: An aerial view of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, Aug. 10, 2022.
5:21
Steve Helber/AP
Threats to FBI increase after search of Mar-a-Lago
By Good Morning America
Last Updated: August 13, 2022, 5:47 PM

Search documents were released by the court on Friday after the FBI executed an unprecedented raid on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday. The FBI was searching for evidence that sources told ABC News is tied to his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

It's believed to be the first search by the federal agency of the residence of a current or former U.S. president. Trump and other Republicans have sharply criticized the raid as a partisan attack and have demanded an explanation. Trump denies wrongdoing.

Latest headlines:

  • Read the redacted warrant, related papers
  • DOJ investigates potential violation of at least 3 separate criminal statutes
  • Pelosi slams GOP for rhetoric following raid
  • Washington Post: Nuclear documents sought at Mar-a-Lago
Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.

Aug 13, 2022 5:47 PM

Lawmakers request 'damage assessment' of Mar-a-Lago documents

Two top House lawmakers sent a three-page letter Saturday to the director of national intelligence asking for an "immediate review and damage assessment" to national security stemming from reports that "highly classified documents" were recovered from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., chair of the House Oversight Committee, wrote to National Intelligence Director Avril Haines that "Trump's conduct has potentially put our national security at grave risk" and that the issue "demands a full review."

Referring to Washington Post reporting that the FBI was seeking in part material "relating to nuclear weapons," they said, "It is hard to overstate the national security danger that could emanate from the reckless decision to remove and retain this material."

They also asked for a classified briefing "as soon as possible."

-ABC News' Justin Gomez


Aug 13, 2022 10:45 PM

Trump lawyer said in June all classified documents were turned over: Sources

A lawyer for Trump signed a statement in June that all classified documents at Mar-a-Lago had been turned over to federal investigators, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

The signed declaration came following the June visit by federal agents in search of additional materials that Trump was believed to have failed to turn over to the National Archives. During that visit, as ABC News has previously reported, Trump stopped by and greeted the agents. Two lawyers representing Trump were present during that visit, sources have said.

There was also a second subpoena that Trump complied with seeking security footage of the Mar-a-Lago club towards the end of June, sources told ABC News.

The New York Times was the first to report these details.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

In a receipt showing property that was seized from Trump's estate, agents noted they recovered 11 sets of documents of various classifications ranging from confidential to top secret and sensitive compartmented information.

-ABC News' John Santucci, Katherine Faulders and Alexander Mallin


Aug 13, 2022 12:06 AM

Classified question may not matter for 2 of 3 statutes: ABC News chief legal analyst

The Trump team has said that the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago in this week's FBI raid were declassified. But whether or not they were classified may not matter for two of the criminal statutes cited in the warrant, according to ABC News chief legal analyst Dan Abrams.

"As I look at these statutes, I'm focused less on the question that the Trump team has been talking about, which is the classification of the documents -- which is obviously very important in a macro picture -- but in a strictly legal sense, [for] two of these three statutes, that may not even be the critical question," Abrams told ABC's David Muir in a special report on Friday following the release of the search warrant.

One of the statutes, 18 USC 1519, relates to the destruction, alteration or falsification of records.

"That is the statute I am singularly most interested in here," Abrams said.

The search of the Mar-a-Lago estate was for classified documents, according to the warrant.



Aug 12, 2022 8:31 PM

Read the redacted warrant, related papers


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