The search warrant identifies three federal crimes the Justice Department is investigating as part of its investigation: violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice, and criminal handling of government records. The inclusion of the crimes indicates that the Justice Department likely has a reason to investigate these crimes as it gathered evidence in the search. To date, no one has been charged with a crime.
The acknowledgment of receipt of the warrant did not provide details on the subject matter of these classified documents, but noted that federal agents had seized only one sentence that read “Top Secret/SCI.”
The agents also took away four sets of “top secret” documents, three sets of “secret” documents and three sets of “confidential” documents, court documents show.
Overall, the unsealed search warrant shows the FBI collected more than 20 boxes, as well as folders containing photographs, sets of classified government materials, and at least one handwritten note.
The warrant, which was unsealed and released by order of a federal judge Friday, was obtained by CNN ahead of its release. This moment marks an unprecedented week that began the search — an evidence-gathering move in a national security investigation.
Search warrant reveals new details on scope of FBI investigation
While details on the documents themselves remain scarce, the laws cited in the warrant offer new insights into what the FBI was looking for when it searched Trump’s home, an unprecedented move that has sparked a firestorm of criticism from the Trump administration’s closest allies triggered former President.
The laws cover the “destruction or concealment of documents to obstruct a government investigation” and the unlawful removal of government records, according to the search warrant released Friday.
Among the laws listed is one known as the Espionage Act, which relates to “obtaining, storing or transmitting information or classified national defense material”.
All three criminal statutes cited in the warrant are from Title 18 of the United States Code. None of these depend solely on whether information has been classified as non-classified.
One of the less sensitive items taken from Trump’s resort, according to a property receipt, was a document pardoning Roger Stone, a staunch Trump ally convicted in 2019 of lying to Congress during its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election to have . (Trump pardoned Stone before leaving office and protected Stone from a three-year sentence.)
It’s unclear how the Stone-related document seized in the search relates to the broader criminal investigation into Trump’s possible misuse of classified materials.
According to the warrant receipt, FBI agents also seized material about the “President of France” during the search.
FBI agents searched “45 Office” in Mar-a-Lago
Court documents released Friday also offer new details about the search itself, revealing that FBI agents were only granted access to certain locations in Mar-a-Lago as they combed Trump’s resort town for possible evidence of crimes.
The judge authorized the FBI to search “Office 45,” an apparent reference to Trump’s place in history as the 45th president.
Agents were also allowed to search “any other room or area” in Mar-a-Lago available to Trump and his associates for storing boxes and documents.
“Locations to be searched include the ’45 Office’, all storage rooms and any other room or area within the premises used or available for use by FPOTUS and its employees and where boxes or documents might be stored, including of any structure or building on the property,” the warrant said, using the acronym “FPOTUS” to refer to the former President of the United States.
The FBI warrant request to the judge specifically said that federal agents would avoid areas being rented or used by third parties, “such as Mar-a-Lago members” and “private guest suites.” Trump owns the sprawling property and it is his primary residence as well as a members-only club and resort.
“It will be sold as a mansion with approximately 58 bedrooms, 33 bathrooms on a
17-acre property,” FBI agents told the judge in their motion, describing the Mar-a-Lago property.
Trump did not oppose the release of the search warrant
The FBI search of the Palm Beach, Fla., resort on Monday was followed by days of silence from the Department of Justice, as is the Department’s standard practice during 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 take place outside of the public eye.
“We are doing this to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and the integrity of our investigation,” Garland said, while declaring that he would not provide further details about the basis of the search.
Trump said in a late-night post on his platform Truth Social Thursday that he would “not oppose the release of any documents,” adding, “I’m taking it a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of these documents.”
The court had ordered the Justice Department to consult with Trump on his request to unseal the warrant documents from the FBI search and give the court by 3 p.m. ET Friday whether he opposes their release.
Trump’s team had been in touch with outside lawyers to discuss how to proceed, and the former president’s orbit was caught off guard by Garland’s announcement.
In two posts for Truth Social following Garland’s testimony, Trump went on to claim that his attorneys were “fully cooperating” and had established “very good relationships” with federal investigators ahead of Monday’s raid in Mar-a-Lago.
“The government could have had what it wanted if we had it,” Trump said. “Everything was fine, better than most previous presidents, and then at 6:30 am Mar-a-Lago was ambushed out of nowhere and without warning by a VERY large number of agents and even ‘safecrackers’. ‘”
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.