An aerial view of Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday. (Steve Helber/AP)
A federal judge on Friday unsealed the search warrant and property receipt from the FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
The search, documents show, was a step in gathering evidence in a national security investigation into misuse of classified documents. Trump owns the sprawling property and it is his primary residence as well as a members-only club and resort.
The FBI recovered 11 sets of classified documents during its search, including some materials marked “top secret/SCI” — one of the highest levels of classification, according to documents included in the search warrant released Friday.
Here are some key things we learned from the unsealed documents:
Criminal offenses recorded in the arrest warrant: 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
- criminal handling of government records
The inclusion of the crimes indicates that the Justice Department likely has a reason to investigate these crimes, since the search has gathered evidence but no one has been charged.
What the FBI found: One of the newly unsealed documents is a “receipt” from a search warrant listing the items the FBI collected at Mar-a-Lago. That document reveals that FBI agents removed more than 20 boxes from Trump’s Palm Beach resort and residence, along with folders containing photos, sets of classified government materials and at least one handwritten note.
According to the search warrant receipt, federal agents seized:
- 1 set of Top Secret/SCI documents
- 4 sets of “top secret” documents
- 3 sets of “secret” documents
- 3 sets of “confidential” documents.
The warrant receipt gave no details as to what these classified documents were about, but this was among the items that were taken:
- 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. Stone-related material extracted from Mar-a-Lago was listed on the warrant receipt as “Executive Grant of Clemency re: Roger Jason Stone, Jr.”
- Material about the “President of France”.
Areas authorized to be searched: The court documents also offer new details about the search itself, revealing that FBI agents only had access to certain locations in Mar-a-Lago as they combed Trump’s vacation residence for possible evidence of crimes.
The judge authorized the FBI to search “Office 45” as well as “any other room or area” in Mar-a-Lago available to Trump and his associates for storing boxes and documents. 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.”
Read more about what the search warrant says here.