A proof of ownership obtained by the news media shows that FBI agents took 11 sets of classified files from the estate during a search on Monday. A proof of ownership is a document prepared by federal agents to identify what was taken during an investigation. The seized records include some marked secret and top secret, according to the reports. Court records did not provide specific details about the documents or the information they may contain. In a statement on Friday, Trump maintained that the documents seized by agents at his Florida club were “all declassified” and said he would have turned the documents over to the Justice Department if asked. While sitting presidents have the power to declassify information, that power ends once they leave office, and it was unclear if the documents in question had ever been declassified. Trump also kept the documents despite multiple requests from agencies, including the National Archives, to turn over the presidential records under federal law. The decision to unseal the records was made by US Magistrate Bruce Reinhart, the same judge who signed the search warrant. Attorney General Merrick Garland said there is “substantial public interest in this matter” and Trump supported the “immediate” issuance of the warrant. The Justice Department told the judge on Friday afternoon that Trump’s lawyers had no objection to the motion to make it public. In messages posted on the Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: “Not only will I not object to the release of documents … I am going one step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of these documents.” Trump himself has received at least some of the records the administration has been trying to unseal, but he and his lawyers have so far refused to release them. The Justice Department’s request is striking because such documents traditionally remain sealed during a pending investigation. But the department appeared to acknowledge that its silence after the investigation has created a vacuum for bitter verbal attacks from Trump and his allies, and that the public is entitled to side with the FBI over what led to Monday’s action at the home of the former president. “The clear and strong public interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing,” said a motion filed in federal court in Florida on Thursday. If the warrant is made public, it could reveal unflattering information about Trump and the FBI’s scrutiny of its handling of sensitive government documents as he prepares for another bid for the White House. During his successful 2016 campaign, he frequently pointed to an FBI investigation into his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, over her mishandling of classified information. It is unclear at this point how much information the documents would contain, if they would be released or if they would include an FBI affidavit that would presumably give a detailed factual basis for the investigation. The department specifically requested the unsealing of the warrant as well as proof of ownership of the items seized, along with two unspecified attachments. Several news organizations have separately petitioned Reinhart to release all documents related to the investigation, given the high level of public interest. To obtain a search warrant, federal authorities must prove to a judge that there is probable cause to believe a crime has been committed. Garland said he personally approved the warrant, a decision he said the department did not take lightly, given that standard practice where possible is to choose less intrusive tactics than searching someone’s home. In that case, according to a person familiar with the matter, there was substantial engagement with Trump and his representatives prior to the search warrant, including a subpoena for records and a visit to Mar-a-Lago a few months ago by FBI and Justice Department officials to evaluate how the documents were stored. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Neither Trump nor the FBI have said anything about what documents the FBI may have recovered or what exactly the agents were looking for. FBI and DOJ policy cautions against discussing ongoing investigations, both to protect the integrity of investigations and to avoid unfairly abusing someone who is investigated but ultimately not charged. This is especially true in the case of search warrants, where supporting court documents are usually kept secret as the investigation progresses. In this case, however, Garland cited the fact that Trump himself had provided the first public confirmation of the FBI investigation, “as is his right.” The Justice Department, in its new filing, also said that disclosing information about it now would not harm the court’s operations. The Justice Department under Garland has been reluctant to make public statements about politically charged investigations or to confirm the extent to which it might be investigating Trump as part of a broader investigation into the January 6 riot at the US Capitol and efforts to overturn its results. 2020 elections. The department has sought to avoid being seen as meddling in presidential politics, as it did in 2016 when then-FBI Director James Comey made an unusual public statement announcing that the FBI would not recommend criminal charges against Clinton over her handling of emails — and when he spoke again just over a week before the election to notify Congress that the investigation was essentially being reopened due to the discovery of new emails. The Mar-a-Lago search warrant issued Monday was part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into classified White House files recovered from Trump’s home in Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this year. The National Archives asked the department to investigate after it said 15 boxes of records recovered from the estate contained classified records. Multiple federal laws govern the handling of classified information. The attorney general also condemned verbal attacks on FBI and Justice Department personnel during the investigation. Some Republican allies of Trump have called for the FBI to be paid back. A large number of Trump supporters have called for the warrant to be issued, hoping it will show Trump was unfairly targeted. “I will not remain silent when their integrity is unfairly attacked,” Garland said of federal law enforcement agents, calling them “dedicated, patriotic public servants.” Earlier Thursday, a gunman wearing body armor tried to breach a security checkpoint at an FBI field office in Ohio, then fled and was later killed after a standoff with law enforcement. A law enforcement official briefed on the matter identified the man as Ricky Shiffer and said he was believed to be in Washington in the days leading up to the Capitol attack and may have been there the day it took place. Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Lindsay Whitehurst and Meg Kinnard contributed to this report.
