Trump Affidavit Shows 'Staggering' Intelligence Compromise: Ex-FBI Agent

A heavily redacted FBI affidavit describing the agency's search for classified documents in former President Donald Trump's Florida home hints that he potentially removed documents that could have compromised United States intelligence, according to a former agent.

Former FBI counterintelligence agent Asha Rangappa tweeted on Friday that the affidavit outlining the search revealed "staggering" levels of compromised intelligence in the documents at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, highlighting allusions in the affidavit to Trump's possession of "special intelligence information."

"The extent of what has been compromised in our intelligence gathering capabilities is going to be staggering," she said.

As defined by the FBI, "special intelligence information"—also classified as "Sensitive compartmented information"—includes technical or intelligence information derived from the monitoring of foreign communications systems. It has colloquially been referred to in some circles as being "above top secret," with access to the documents closely restricted.

Other intelligence found in Trump's home described in the affidavit included documents marked "HCS"—a reference to human sources who risked their lives to collect intelligence for the U.S. government—and "FISA," which references the collection of intelligence information between "foreign powers" suspected of espionage or terrorism.

The documents were also improperly stored, the affidavit says, in violation of federal regulations governing classified documents.

In all, 184 unique documents obtained from the search contained classification markings, including 67 documents marked "confidential," 92 documents marked as "secret," and 25 documents marked "top secret."

The evidence contained in the affidavit alone might already be enough to indict him, Trump's former attorney Alan Dershowitz told Newsweek on Friday.

Federal law states that classified information of any designation may be shared only with those deemed to be eligible for access by the federal government on a "need to know" basis. Anyone granted that level of access must agree to properly protect that information. This includes an agreement to not disclose its contents, unlawfully remove the classified information from federally authorized storage facilities, and not store classified information in unauthorized locations.

In arguments accompanying the release of the affidavit, Trump attorney Evan Corcoran argued the former president had a constitutional right to declassify documents, writing the primary criminal statutes governing the unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents "does not apply to the president."

"[Trump] had a standing order that documents removed from the Oval Office and taken into the residence were deemed to be declassified," the former president's office said in a statement shortly after the search warrant was issued.

"The power to classify and declassify documents rests solely with the President of the United States. The idea that some paper-pushing bureaucrat, with classification authority delegated by the president, needs to approve of declassification is absurd."

While some, like former Trump official Kash Patel, have publicly stated they witnessed Trump declassify documents in his possession, legal experts—and even some former members of Trump's cabinet—have contended there are numerous procedures in place for declassification with little proof Trump pursued them.

"If Trump can ultimately produce some compelling evidence that he pursued declassification while president, then he and his associates will be on somewhat more comfortable legal ground," former State Department attorney Scott Anderson wrote in a blog post for Lawfare earlier this month.