The search warrant identified three federal crimes that the Justice Department is looking into as part of its investigation: violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice and criminal handling of government documents, according to The New York Times. The inclusion of the crimes indicates that the Department of Justice had probable cause to investigate these crimes because it collected evidence during the search. No one has been charged with a crime at this time.
Federal agents seized only one set of “Top Secret/SCI” documents, according to the search warrant receipt. The agents took four sets of “Top Secret” documents, three sets of “Secret” documents, and three sets of “Confidential” documents. The warrant receipt does not specify what these classified documents are for.
In total, the unsealed warrant shows the FBI collected more than 20 boxes, as well as photo folders, sets of classified government materials and at least one handwritten note.
The order, which was unsealed and made public following a federal judge’s order on Friday, was obtained by CNN ahead of its release. The moment marks an unprecedented week that began with the search, an evidence-gathering step in a national security investigation into the mishandling of classified documents.
Among the items taken from Trump’s resort was a pardon document for Roger Stone, a staunch Trump ally who was convicted in 2019 of lying to Congress during its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. (Trump Pardons Stone before leaving office, sparing Stone a three-year sentence.)
It is unclear how the Stone-related document seized during the search relates to the broader criminal investigation into Trump’s potential misuse of classified material.
During the search, FBI agents also found material about the “President of France,” according to the warrant receipt.
The FBI’s search of the resort in Palm Beach, Fla., on Monday was followed by days of silence from the Justice Department, as is the division’s normal practice for ongoing investigations.
Then on Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the department had unsealed the search warrant and two attachments, including an inventory list, but also stressed that some of the department’s work must be done out of public view.
“We are doing this to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect the integrity of our investigations,” Garland said, while explaining that he would not provide further details about the basis of the search.
Trump said in a late-night post on his Truth Social platform Thursday that he “will not oppose the release of documents,” adding, “I am going one step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of these documents.”
The court instructed the Justice Department to consult with Trump about its request to unseal the FBI search warrant documents and to tell the court by 3 p.m. ET Friday if he objects to their release.
Trump’s team had contacted outside lawyers about how to proceed, and the former president’s orbit was caught off guard by Garland’s announcement.
In two posts to Truth Social following Garland’s statement, Trump went on to say that his lawyers were “fully cooperating” and had developed a “very good relationship” with federal investigators before Monday’s Mar-a-Lago search.
“The government could have whatever it wanted if we had it,” Trump said. “Everything was fine, better than most previous presidents, and then, out of the blue and without warning, Mar-a-Lago was attacked, at 6:30 in the morning, by a VERY large number of agents and even ‘safecrackers.’ ‘”
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.
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