Unsealed Documents Found in Trump’s home.
FBI Team tracked down many envelopes with “ordered” flags, some of which were vacant, at former US President Donald Trump’s Florida home when they looked through them last month, an unsealed inventory of the recovered materials shows.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon disclosed more reports about the inquiry on Friday, uncovering that the FBI unsealed an inventory of 18 records set apart as “highly confidential” during the August 8 pursuit. Agents also seized more than 10,000 government records without any classification markings.
The detailed inventory also showed that 43 empty folders with classified banners were taken from a box or container at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home office. Similar folders were also found in a storage room.
The folders with classified markings and secret documents were found in boxes or containers containing non-official material, including magazines, newspapers, and books.
Since leaving office, the Justice Department has pursued a criminal investigation into Trump’s suspected mishandling of secret information.
According to an affidavit filed last week, US investigators attempted to search the former president’s home for secret government documents, including those potentially holding “National Defense Information.”
In a court statement accompanying the full inventory, dated August 30, the Justice Department stated that it inspected every item confiscated from Trump’s house – except potentially privileged documents – but is still analyzing the items.
“The confiscated materials will continue to be used to further the government’s investigation,” the filings state. “The investigating team will continue to examine and review the seized materials as it conducts further investigative steps, such as more witness interviews and grand jury practice.”
It went on to say that the evidence “will help the government’s probe.”
The complete inventory is being released as Cannon contemplates accepting Trump’s request to appoint an impartial “special master” to oversee the document assessment.
collected during the Mar-a-Lago search for materials containing potentially privileged lawyer-client information
The Justice Department stated in the August 30 court filing, which was made public on Friday, that the “investigative team has been and will continue to be aware of the possibility for attorney-client privilege issues and the filter protocols provided in the search warrant.”
The Justice Department said earlier this week that it had identified a “limited” number of such documents.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is also reviewing the classification and potential national security risks of documents seized in the search.
The search of Mar-a-Lago spurred a firestorm of Republican criticism against the FBI and the Department of Justice, with several GOP lawmakers accusing the Biden administration without evidence of investigating Trump for political reasons.
President Joe Biden has denied having prior knowledge of the search and insisted that the White House does not interfere in Justice Department-led investigations.
Trump also claims that he declassified the documents before leaving office in early 2021.