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Former President Donald Trump's team had been notified that his Mar-a-Lago residence was not authorized to store classified documents, according to the redacted affidavit released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday.
The affidavit explained that someone referred to as "DOJ Counsel" sent a letter to a Trump counsel on June 8, exactly two months before the FBI raided the former president's home. The letter "reiterated that the PREMISES [Mar-a-Lago] are not authorized to store classified information and requested the preservation of the STORAGE ROOM and boxes that had been moved from the White House to the PREMISES," the affidavit said.
A portion of the letter to Trump that was included in the affidavit read: "As I previously indicated to you, Mar-a-Lago does not include a secure location authorized for the storage of classified information. As such, it appears that since the time classified documents were removed from the secure facilities at the White House and moved to Mar-a-Lago on or around January 20, 2021, they have not been handled in an appropriate manner or stored in an appropriate location. Accordingly, we ask that the room at Mar-a-Lago where the documents had been stored be secured and that all of the boxes that were moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago (along with any other items in that room) be preserved in that room in their current condition until further notice."
The affidavit added that the unnamed Trump counsel responded to the DOJ counsel on June 9 in an email that read: "I write to acknowledge receipt of this letter."
While the redactions in the document limited what information was revealed, the affidavit provided new insight on the events leading up to the Mar-a-Lago search that enraged Trump's allies and inspired discussions on whether it could support potential charges against the former president. The search warrant, which was also unsealed this month, listed possible violations of federal law, including one part of the Espionage Act.
A property receipt that was also unsealed showed that the FBI seized items described as secret documents, top secret documents, a potential presidential record, various boxes and something referred to as "Info re: President of France."
The National Archives confirmed in February that it had received "15 boxes that contained Presidential records" that were previously located at Mar-a-Lago. The affidavit disclosed that when FBI agents reviewed the contents of those 15 boxes, it found 184 documents with classification markings, including 67 marked as confidential, 92 marked as secret and 25 marked as top secret.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing regarding the documents, including by saying that he had declassified them, but some legal experts have cast doubt on that explanation. Barbara McQuade said on MSNBC's The Katie Phang Show this month that the laws listed as potentially being violated on the search warrant don't require the documents to be classified.
Newsweek reached out to one of Trump's lawyers for comment.
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