WASHINGTON (AP) – Along with top-secret government documents, FBI agents searching former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate found dozens of empty folders marked classified but with nothing inside and no explanation of what might have been there, according to a more detailed census. of the seized material released Friday.
Agents also found more than 10,000 other unclassified government documents kept by Trump.
The list compiled by the Justice Department broadly reveals the contents of 33 boxes and containers taken from Trump’s office and a warehouse in Mar-a-Lago during the Aug. 8 search. While the list does not describe the contents of the documents, it shows the extent to which classified information – including material at the top secret level – was hidden in boxes at home and mixed in with newspapers, magazines, clothing and other personal items.
And the empty files raise the question of whether the administration has recovered all the classified documents Trump kept after he left the White House.
The inventory makes clear for the first time the volume of unclassified government documents at home, even though the presidential records were to be turned over to the National Archives and Administration. The Archives tried unsuccessfully for months to secure their return from Trump, then contacted the FBI after finding classified information in a batch of 15 boxes he received in January.
The Justice Department said there was no safe place at Mar-a-Lago for sensitive government secrets and opened a criminal investigation focused on keeping them there and what it says were efforts in recent months to obstruct the investigation. It is also investigating potential violations of a law that criminalizes the mutilation or concealment of government records, classified or unclassified.
Trump’s lawyers did not immediately return an email seeking comment Friday. Trump’s spokesman, Taylor Budowitz, argued that the FBI’s investigation was a “SWITCH AND GRIP” — even though the Justice Department had been granted court permission to search specific locations in the home.
The list was released as the Justice Department begins its criminal investigation, as intelligence agencies assess any risk to national security posed by the mishandling of classified information and as a judge considers whether to appoint a special master — essentially an outside legal expert — to to review the records.
The inventory had earlier been filed under seal, but the Justice Department had said that because of “extraordinary circumstances,” it had no objection to making it public. Trump himself has previously requested the release of documents related to the investigation. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon said Thursday she planned to unseal the stockpile and did so Friday.
In all, the census shows, the FBI seized more than 100 classified documents in August, including 18 top secret, 54 secret and 31 confidential. The FBI had located 184 documents marked classified in 15 boxes retrieved from the Archives in January and obtained additional classified documents in a single Redweld folder during a June visit to Mar-a-Lago.
The Justice Department said it searched the property in August after developing evidence that documents were likely to be “concealed and removed” from the warehouse as part of an effort to obstruct its investigation.
Court filings have not explained why Trump withheld the classified documents and why he and his representatives did not return them when requested.
The inventory shows that 48 empty envelopes with classified banners were received from either the warehouse or the office, along with additional empty envelopes marked “Return to Secretary of Staff” or military aide.
It is not clear from the inventory list what might have happened to any of the documents that were apparently inside.
Separately on Friday, the Justice Department told a court it had reviewed records seized in the recent search and had separated them with classified markings to ensure they were stored according to proper protocol and procedure.
“The seized materials will continue to be used to further the government’s investigation, and the investigative team will continue to use and evaluate the seized materials as it takes further investigative steps, such as through additional witness interviews and grand jury practice,” the department said. .
He added that “additional information related to the seized items,” including how they were stored, “will inform the government’s investigation.”
