The Washington Post has reported that a classified document the FBI seized at former US president Donald Trump’s Florida residence describes the nuclear capabilities and military defenses of a foreign power. The report, however, did not name the country the document detailed. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home also serves as a private club, and it is unclear where in the residence was the highly sensitive material found.
Citing sources, the Post said that some of the documents found during the August 8 raids were so highly classified that only the president and cabinet or near-cabinet level officials would be cleared to authorize other government officials to access them.
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A government court filing stated, “Even the FBI counterintelligence personnel and DOJ attorneys conducting the review required additional clearances before they were permitted to review certain documents.”
According to the Post, such documents require special clearances on a need-to-know basis, rather than a generic top-secret clearance.
The Justice Department has been saying that top secret documents were “likely concealed” to obstruct an FBI probe into Trump’s potential mishandling of classified materials.
Earlier, Trump surrendered “highly classified” records in January after months of back and forth with the National Archives and Records Administration, which were later reviewed by authorities. The 15 boxes handed over by Trump contained 184 documents marked as confidential, secret or top secret.
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The FBI, however, wasn’t convinced, and Trump’s lawyer eventually turned over 38 more classified documents. They even gave a “sworn certification” that they represented the last of the material. But the FBI uncovered “multiple sources of evidence” showing classified documents remained at Mar-a-Lago.
(With inputs from agencies)
