NBC obtained several documents related to the FBI’s search on TFG’s Mar a Lago estate. The property receipt of items recovered by FBI agents who searched former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort shows that agents recovered a trove of top secret and other heavily classified documents.
Among the items the FBI took was a handwritten note, information about the “President of France,” an executive grant of clemency for former Trump ally Roger Stone and binders of photos.
NBC and other news organizations obtained the documents shortly before a judge was expected to authorize their public release. Trump had said in a statement overnight on his social media platform that he didn’t oppose their disclosure to the public.
Nope, no worries—cool as a cucumber:
NARA Responds to TFG’s ‘WhataboutObama?’
Per WSJ:
he Federal Bureau of Investigation agents took around 20 boxes of items, binders of photos, a handwritten note and the executive grant of clemency for Mr. Trump’s ally Roger Stone, a list of items removed from the property shows. Also included in the list was information about the “President of France,” according to the three-page list. The list is contained in a seven-page document that also includes the warrant to search the premises which was granted by a federal magistrate judge in Florida.
The list includes references to one set of documents marked as “Various classified/TS/SCI documents,” an abbreviation that refers to top-secret/sensitive compartmented information. It also says agents collected four sets of top secret documents, three sets of secret documents, and three sets of confidential documents. The list didn’t provide any more details about the substance of the documents.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers argue that the former president used his authority to declassify the material before he left office. While a president has the power to declassify documents, there are federal regulations that lay out a process for doing so.
The search warrant for Trump’s residence cited three criminal laws, all from Title 18 of the United States Code. Section 793, better known as the Espionage Act, which covers the unlawful retention of defense-related information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary; Section 1519, which covers destroying or concealing documents to obstruct government investigations or administrative proceedings; and Section 2071, which covers the unlawful removal of government records. Notably, none of those laws turn on whether information was deemed to be unclassified.
NYT:
