That’s in addition to another 150 classified documents in 15 boxes the US National Archives retrieved from the Palm Beach resort in January, the paper added. Previous reporting on that seizure did not mention the nature of the documents.
A source told the NYT that the documents seized in January included files from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), “spanning a variety of topics of national security interest.”
The August 8 raid was much larger, with FBI agents carrying away 26 boxes of files, including 11 sets of materials marked as classified, up to the highest level of classification: top secret/sensitive compartmented information (TS/SCI). Those reportedly included files pertaining to US nuclear weapons, although that has not been confirmed by any governmental authority.
The report also revealed that DOJ officials traveled to Mar-a-Lago in June to see if there were more classified files there, following a subpoena for the documents based on a series of witness interviews the month prior.
Jay Bratt, the head of the DOJ’s counterespionage section, went to the resort on June 3 and, accompanied by two of Trump’s lawyers, Evan Corcoran and Christina Bobb, visited the mansion basement where the files were kept and personally went through them, identifying any classified documents. Bratt reportedly returned with a “sheaf” of classified material and a sworn statement by Bobb that it was, to the best of her knowledge, the last of the classified materials kept there.
However, the DOJ suspected there were still more files, and after subpoenaing security footage from the mansion that showed people moving boxes of files around, they returned on August 8 with the new search warrant.
While many are horrified by the idea of such a security breach, especially by a former president who launched a bid to overturn the 2020 elections that forced him from power, Trump’s son, Donald Jr., thought it was a great idea.
“[F]or the record, I say that if Donald Trump actually still had the nuclear codes it would probably be good," Don Jr. told the crowd at a campaign rally on Monday for incumbent Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, taking the tone of a stand-up comedy routine.
"Our enemies might actually be like, 'okay, maybe, let's not mess with them,’” he said. “Unlike like when they look at Joe Biden, then they say, 'you know what, we should attack now.'"
In the final months of Trump’s presidency, fear he might launch a war against China in order to stay in power held sway in both Washington and Beijing. China’s military forces were put on high alert several times between September 2020 and February 2021, and the People’s Liberation Army rushed forward plans to expand and diversify its small nuclear arsenal.
The unsealed search warrant revealed that the search and seizure was authorized over concerns of violations of the 1917 Espionage Act, mishandling of documents, and obstruction of justice. However, that doesn’t mean Trump will necessarily be charged under one of those statutes.