The Wall Street Journal said the FBI took 11 sets of documents from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
Washington:
FBI agents recovered documents marked “top secret” during a search of Donald Trump’s Florida property, US media reported on Friday, as justice officials made public a warrant authorizing extraordinary raids on the former president’s home. were ready for.
The Wall Street Journal said FBI agents removed 11 sets of classified documents from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in a raid that ignited a political firestorm in an already divided country.
The newspaper said some of the documents were marked “top secret” and were “only meant to be available at special government facilities.” It said the list of items removed included information about the “President of France”.
The Journal said the list is contained in a seven-page document that also includes a search warrant for the Trump estate in Palm Beach.
The Justice Department has asked a Florida judge to cancel the search warrant Friday, barring the objections of Trump, who is running another White House in 2024.
Trump, 76, said he would not obstruct the issuance of warrants, complaining that he was the victim of “unprecedented political weaponization of law enforcement” by “radical left Democrats”.
Trump and his lawyers actually had a copy of the search warrant and receipt listing the assets seized by FBI agents and could have previously disclosed the contents themselves.
The Wall Street Journal said FBI agents removed about 20 boxes of items, including a binder of photographs, a handwritten note and a clemency given by Trump to Roger Stone, a former presidential aide.
The Washington Post on Thursday, citing unnamed sources close to the investigation, said classified documents related to nuclear weapons were among the papers sought by FBI agents during the raid.
Trump himself appeared to refute the claim, posting that “the nuclear weapons issue is a hoax” and even suggesting that the Federal Bureau of Investigation may be “putting information” on his home. could.
– ‘Personally approved’ –
The highly unusual move to unseal a search warrant was announced by the nation’s top law enforcement official – Attorney General Merrick Garland, who said he had “personally approved” the raid on Trump’s home.
Garland said he had asked a Florida judge to cancel the warrant because of “substantial public interest in the matter” and that he called on Trump and his legal team to oppose the motion at 3:00 p.m. Friday (1900). GMT).
Prominent Republicans have rallied around Trump and some members of his party have accused the Justice Department and the FBI of bias in targeting the former president.
In an attack that appears to be a direct response to an FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, an armed man attempted to storm an FBI office in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Thursday.
The attacker, who was gunned down by police after an exchange of bullets and an hour-long standoff, reportedly posted on Trump’s Truth social platform that he expected his actions to be a “call to arms”. Will work
Garland on Thursday criticized “baseless attacks” on the FBI and the Justice Department, while FBI Director Christopher Wray, a Trump appointee, denounced “violence and threats against law enforcement.”
The Justice Department generally does not confirm or deny whether or not it is investigating anyone, and Garland emphasized that the law was being applied fairly to Trump.
In a statement on Thursday, Trump said his lawyers are “fully cooperating” and “whatever the government wanted, if we had.”
In addition to investigations into his business practices, Trump faces legal scrutiny for his attempts to reverse the results of the November 2020 election and the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.
Trump was impeached for a historic second time by the House after the Capitol riot – he was accused of inciting rebellion – but was acquitted by the Senate.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)