News

Seized Documents Were Part of an Inquiry Into Violation of the Espionage Act and Two Other Laws


Federal agents removed top-secret documents when they searched former President Donald J. Trump’s Florida residence on Monday as part of an investigation into possible violations of the Code of Ethics. Espionage and other laws, under a search warrant announced on Friday.

FBI agents seized all 11 sets of documents, including some that were marked as “classified/TS/SCI” – short for “top secret/sensitive classified information”. according to a trove of documents seized during the search. Information classified in that way is meant to be viewed only in a secure government facility.

It is the latest startling revelation from a series of investigations surrounding his efforts to stay in power following his election defeat, his business practices and, in this case, his execution. government documents that he took with him when he left the White House.

The results of the search revealed that documents considered a highly protected state secret were being kept at an unsafe resort club, Mar-a-Lago, owned and occupied by a The former president has long shown contempt for the careful handling of classified information.

The documents released on Friday also made clear for the first time the seriousness of possible crimes being investigated in an investigation that has generated Justice Department and FBI accusations from party members Popular Republican and fueled the anger of Mr. Trump, a likely 2024 presidential candidate.

In total, agents collected four sets of top-secret documents, three sets of classified documents and three sets of classified documents, the inventory shows. FBI agents also obtained files relating to the pardon of Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime Trump associate, and documents about President Emmanuel Macron of France – along with more than a dozen boxes. labeled by number only.

The release of the search warrant and the inventory made clear what stakes in the collision between the Justice Department’s stated intentions to enforce federal law at the highest levels and a former president engaged in disruptive behavior. Breaking the norm includes expressing an exclusive view of legitimate government documents.

It’s unclear why Mr. Trump seems to choose to stick to materials that could set off another legal storm around him. But last year, he told close associates that he considers some presidential documents his own personal property. When talking about his friendly correspondence with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Mr. Trump said, “They’re mine,” according to a person familiar with the exchange.

Although the FBI’s trove of documents seized from Mar-a-Lago indicated that many of the files were marked as “top secret,” Trump said Friday that he had declassified all of the documents. Presidents use scanning power to declassify documents, although usually when that happens, those marks are removed.

But even though Mr. Trump declassified the information before leaving office, none of the three potential crimes cited by the Department in its search of the subpoenas. depends on whether a mishandled document is considered classified.

The subpoena says agents will seek documents as they investigate potential violations of the Espionage Act, which prohibits the unauthorized retention of defense-related information that could harm the United States or aid foreign competitors – a standard that was written by Congress before the introduction of the modern classification system.

It also invokes a federal law that makes it a crime to destroy or conceal documents to obstruct a government investigation and another statute that prohibits the unlawful acquisition or destruction of government records or documents. .

The existence of a search warrant does not mean that the Justice Department has decided to criminally prosecute anyone. Mr. Trump has repeatedly insisted that he did nothing wrong.

A federal court in Florida sealed search warrants and inventories on Friday after the Justice Department requested a day earlier to make them public. Portions of warrants and associated inventory previously reported in The Wall Street Journaland The New York Times also obtained them before they were sealed.

The subpoena appears to have given agents broad scope in finding documents deemed improperly stored at Mar-a-Lago, granting access to “Office 45” and “all storage rooms”. storage and all other rooms or areas” on the premises that can be used to store documents.

The most sensitive and informative documents – Application for a Justice Department subpoena, which most likely includes an affidavit detailing the evidence that convinced a judge that there might be reason to believe a search would find evidence of a crime – not among the documents the department requested to be sealed. It is not likely to be made public any time soon.



What we consider before using anonymous sources.
How do the sources know the information? What is their motivation to tell us? Have they proven reliable in the past? Can we verify the information? Even if these questions are satisfied, The Times still uses anonymous sources as a last resort. Reporters and at least one editor know the source’s identity.

The documents barely answer some basic questions about the day-long search, including its duration. It comes after months of negotiations between the department and the former president’s lawyers.

The investigation into possible Espionage Act violations represents a previously unknown and potentially important aspect to the investigation initiated by the National Archives.

The act includes a number of provisions that could apply to Mr. Trump’s case, particularly if it is later found that he was negligent in storing documents or knew that information in his possession had could harm U.S. interests and still refuse to return them to investigators, said Mary McCord, a former top official in the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

“We are talking about top secret documents that have the potential to seriously harm our national security,” said Ms McCord, now executive director of the Georgetown Law Institute for Constitutional Defense and Advocacy. United States, including in favor of foreign spies.

Failure to seal the search warrant helped verify what was known about why Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, on the advice of the Department of Homeland Security, felt compelled to search the former general’s home. system.

The search was conducted as part of a government effort to find documents that a person briefed on the matter said involved some of the most top secret programs run by the United States. .

This person told The Times that investigators were concerned about the document including some words from what the government calls “Special Access Program” a designation usually reserved for extremely sensitive operations conducted by the United States abroad or for highly organized technologies and capabilities.

Washington Post reported that some of those documents may be related to classified documents “related to nuclear weapons,” which may be part of a designated special access program.

In January, Mr. Trump returned to the National Archives 15 boxes of documents he had improperly brought with him when he left office. The archives then identified the classified material in the boxes and mention the problem to the Department of Justice, which subsequently convened a grand jury.

But when Monday’s search results emerged, other government documents were still at Mar-a-Lago. Why Mr. Trump did not return it along with the 15 boxes he gave to the archives in January is unclear. But at some point, the Justice Department learned of it, and it issued a subpoena this spring asking for some of the documents to be returned.

The existence of the subpoena indicates that the department tried non-search warrant methods before taking the politically explosive step of sending FBI agents to Mar-a-Lago without notification.

Jay Bratt, the department’s top counterintelligence official, accompanied a small group of other federal officials to Mar-a-Lago in early June.

There, they met Trump’s attorney Evan Corcoran and examined the basement storage area where the former president kept documents he brought from the White House. Mr. Bratt then emailed Mr. Corcoran and asked him to further secure the documents in the storage area with a stronger padlock.

Federal investigators then subpoenaed surveillance footage from the club, which could give officials a glimpse of who’s going in and out of the storage area, according to one person. knowledgeable about this issue.

During the same period, investigators came into contact with several of Trump’s aides, who had some knowledge of how he stored and moved documents around the White House, and who still worked for him. , three people familiar with the events said.

According to a person familiar with the investigation, at least one witness provided investigators with information that made them want to continue pressuring Mr.

Federal officials believed this summer that Mr. Trump had not given up all of the documents he had left the White House with at the end of his term, according to three people familiar with the investigation.

Last Friday, the Justice Department applied for a search warrant. Early Monday morning, FBI agents arrived at Mar-a-Lago.

Katie Benner contribution report.



Source link

news7f

News7F: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button