Comment A document outlining a foreign government’s military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities, was found by FBI agents searching former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. and private club last month, according to people familiar with the matter, underscoring concerns among U.S. intelligence officials about classified material hidden on the Florida property. Some of the seized documents detail top-secret US operations that are so closely guarded that many senior national security officials remain in the dark about them. Only the president, certain members of his cabinet, or a A near-Cabinet-level official could authorize other government officials to know details of those special access programs, according to people familiar with the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive details of an ongoing investigation. . Documents related to such highly classified operations require special need-to-know clearances, not just top secret clearance. Some special access programs may have at least a few dozen government personnel authorized to know about the existence of a business. Files dealing with such programs are kept locked away, almost always in a secure information facility, with a designated controller to keep a close eye on their location. But such documents were stored at Mar-a-Lago, in uncertain security, more than 18 months after Trump left the White House. Deep within the bustling Mar-a-Lago, a warehouse where secrets were kept After months of efforts, according to government court filings, the FBI recovered more than 300 classified documents from Mar-a-Lago this year: 184 in a total of 15 boxes sent to the National Archives and Records Administration in January, 38 more delivered by a Trump lawyer to investigators in June and more than 100 additional documents were discovered in Court-approved search on August 8. In this latest batch of government secrets, the people familiar with the matter said, was information about a foreign government’s nuclear defense readiness. These people did not identify the foreign government in question, say where the document was found at Mar-a-Lago or offer additional details about one of the Justice Department’s most sensitive national security investigations. A spokesman for Trump did not immediately comment. Spokesmen for the Justice Department and the FBI declined to comment. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is conducting a risk assessment to determine how much potential damage was caused by the removal of hundreds of classified documents from government custody. Trump and the Mar-a-Lago Papers: Timeline The Washington Post previously reported that FBI agents searching Trump’s home were, in part, looking for classified documents related to nuclear weapons. After that story broke, Trump compared it on social media to a series of previous government investigations into his conduct. “The nuclear weapons issue is a hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a hoax, two fakes were a hoax, the Mueller investigation was a hoax and more. The same slackers are involved,” he wrote, saying FBI agents may have planted evidence against him. A grand jury subpoena issued May 11 demanded the return of “all documents or writings in the custody or control of Donald J. Trump and/or the Office of Donald J. Trump that are marked classified,” including “Top Secret.” and the lower categories “Secret” and “Confidential”. The subpoena, issued to the custodian of Trump’s records, then listed more than two dozen subclassifications of documents, including “S/FRD,” an acronym for “Formerly Restricted Data,” which is reserved for information primarily related to military use of nuclear weapons. Despite “former” in the title, the term does not mean that the information is no longer classified. A person familiar with the Mar-a-Lago search said the goal of the comprehensive list was to ensure the recovery of all classified records on the property, not just those that investigators had reason to believe might exist. Investigators became concerned, according to a person familiar with the investigation, as they began to review documents recovered from the club’s warehouse, Trump’s residence and his office in August. The team soon found files that are highly restricted, so much so that even some of the top national security officials in the Biden administration were not authorized to review them. A government filing referred to that information when it noted that FBI counterintelligence agents and prosecutors investigating the Mar-a-Lago documents were not initially authorized to review some of the seized material. The FBI investigation into Mar-a-Lago followed months of resistance, delayed by Trump Among the more than 100 classified documents obtained in August, some are marked “HCS,” a category of highly classified government information referred to as “HUMINT Control Systems,” which are systems used to protect information gathered by undercover human sources, according to a court filing. A partially unsealed affidavit cited documents found in boxes sent to the National Archives in January related to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. There was also material which was never meant to be shared with foreign nations. The investigation into the possible mishandling of classified information, as well as the possible concealment, falsification or destruction of government records, became even more complicated on Monday when a federal judge in Florida granted Trump’s request to appoint a special master to review the material seized in August . 8 search and destruction of documents that may be covered by executive privilege — a legal standard that, as it applies to former presidents, is poorly defined. U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon ruled that the special master also will review all of the nearly 13,000 documents and items seized by the FBI to identify any that may be protected by the attorney-client privilege, even though Justice Department lawyers said a team of “filters” has already completed that task. Cannon’s decision could slow and complicate the administration’s criminal investigation, particularly if the Justice Department decides to appeal the murky and difficult issues of executive privilege a former president can have. The judge ruled that investigators cannot “use” the seized material in their investigation until the special master completes his review. A special master has not yet been appointed. Cannon asked Trump and the Justice Department to agree on a list of qualifications by Friday. Legal experts noted that the Justice Department can still interview witnesses, use other evidence and present information to a grand jury while the special master reviews the seized material. In her order, Cannon said the appointment of a special master was necessary “to ensure at least the appearance of justice and integrity under the extraordinary circumstances presented.” The Justice Department filing points to a new legal risk for Trump and his lawyers He also thought that a special master could mitigate potential harm to Trump “through the improper disclosure of sensitive information to the public,” suggesting that knowledge or details of the case were harmful to the former president and could be reduced by introducing a special rule. in the document review process. “In connection with Plaintiff’s past position as President of the United States, the stigma attached to the seizure of the subject matter is of its own,” Cannon wrote. “A future indictment, based in any degree on assets that should be returned, would result in reputational damage of a distinctly different order of magnitude.” While the FBI probe has drawn sharp condemnation from Trump and his Republican allies, who accuse the Justice Department of acting with political malice against a former president who may seek office again in 2024, some Republicans said the action could was necessary. In an interview aired Friday, Trump’s former attorney general, William P. Barr, said there was no reason classified documents should have been at Mar-a-Lago after Trump left. “People are saying this was unprecedented,” Barr told Fox News. “But it’s also unprecedented for a President to take all this classified information and put it in a country club, okay?”
