The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it seized more than 11,000 government documents and photos during a search of former US President Donald Trump’s Florida home on August 8, in addition to 48 blank files classified as “classified”. were discovered. which was revealed on Friday.
The release of the court records was ordered by Judge Eileen Cannon in West Palm Beach a day after hearing oral arguments from Trump’s lawyer and the Justice Department’s top counterintelligence attorney on whether to appoint a special judicial monitor to review documents seized from Trump’s home. The request of the president. The previous president.
Cannon immediately delayed ruling on the appointment of a judicial monitor, but said he would agree to release two files submitted by the Justice Department.
For his part, former US Attorney General William Barr, who was appointed by Trump, questioned the usefulness of such an appointment.
“I think at this point, since they (the FBI) have already seen the documents, I think it’s a waste of time,” Barr said in an interview with Fox News.
Barr, who left office in late December 2020, also added in the interview that he saw “no legal reason” for Trump to have the documents at his Florida home if they were classified.
One of the records released Friday provides more details about the 33 boxes and other items the FBI found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into Trump’s illegal retention of information. Gives. related to the national defense and its attempt to prevent the investigation
Records show that classified documents were sometimes mixed with other items such as books, magazines and newspaper clippings.
Of the more than 11,000 government documents and photos, 18 were classified as “top secret,” 54 as “confidential” and 31 as “private,” according to a Reuters report on government archives. It was marked “confidential”, while others indicated the need to return it to the Secretary of the Staff/Military Assistant.
It is unclear why these files are empty or if there are any missing records.
The Justice Department’s criminal investigation may be temporarily halted if Judge Cannon agrees to appoint a special judicial monitor to conduct an independent third-party review of the records.
However, Cannon indicated at Thursday’s hearing that he may be willing to allow US intelligence officials to continue reviewing the documents as part of their assessment of national security harm, even if a special judicial monitor is appointed.
The Justice Department previously disclosed in court documents that it had evidence that classified documents were intentionally withheld from the FBI when it tried to retrieve them from Trump’s home in June.
The Justice Department also opposes the appointment of a special judicial monitor, saying the records in question do not belong to Trump and that he cannot claim executive privilege, a legal principle that can be used to protect certain presidential communications.
Source: Lebanon Debate
