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At least two items with classified markings were found in a Florida storage unit used by former President Donald Trump, two newspapers reported Wednesday.
Citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, The Washington Post first reported that Trump hired an outside team to search several properties, which led to the discovery of the classified items in the West Palm Beach, Florida, unit. The items were then turned over to the FBI.
The New York Times, citing an anonymous source, also reported on the discovery of at least two documents that were marked as classified inside a sealed box in the Florida storage unit.
Additional details on the purportedly classified items were not immediately available.
In August, the FBI seized thousands of files from Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, including some that were marked as classified. His hiring of the outside team to search his properties came after a federal judge ordered him to look for any classified materials that could still be in his possession, the Times reported.
The FBI's Mar-a-Lago search was part of a Department of Justice investigation into Trump's handling of sensitive documents. The former president has not been charged with any crimes in relation to the documents and has denied any wrongdoing. However, the warrant for the Mar-a-Lago search listed three potential violations of federal law, including part of the 1917 Espionage Act.
The Post reported that the General Services Administration, a U.S. government agency, helped Trump obtain the storage unit in order to store items located in a Northern Virginia office that Trump staffers used in the months before he left office in January 2021. An anonymous source familiar with the matter told the Post that, to the source's knowledge, Trump has never been to the storage unit and that the items there included clothing, gifts and a mix of boxes.
Newsweek was not immediately able to confirm these details and reached out to a Trump lawyer for comment.
Properties that the outside team reportedly searched also included Trump Tower in New York City and his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, according to the Post, which again cited people familiar with the matter.
Discovery of additional classified items could be a new blow to the former president in a week that has dealt him some setbacks. On Tuesday, a Manhattan jury found his company, the Trump Organization, guilty on 17 counts related to tax fraud, conspiracy and falsifying business records. Trump was not personally charged in the case.
In Georgia's runoff Senate election on Tuesday, GOP candidate Herschel Walker, whom Trump had endorsed, lost to Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock.
Update 12/7/22, 3:30 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information and background.
About the writer
Zoe Strozewski is a Newsweek reporter based in New Jersey. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and global politics. Zoe ... Read more