WASHINGTON — Twenty-seven documents with classified and top secret markings were recovered from former President Donald Trump’s office at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to a detailed inventory of what the FBI removed during its court-approved search of the home last month.
The eight-page inventory detailing thousands of government documents removed in the search, includes the locations where each item removed from the property was found and if they were classified, but not the subject matter. In many cases highly classified materials are listed has having been stored in same boxes as hundreds of unclassified documents including newspaper and magazine clippings, and other items including clothing.
Trump’s lawyers demanded more information about what was seized from the Palm Beach estateas part of their request for a third-party special master to review the items, but objected to making the inventory public during a court hearing Thursday. The Justice Department did not object.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida ordered the unsealing of a status report on the Justice Department’s investigation as well as the detailed property inventory Friday morning.
Cannon is still weighing whether to appoint a special master to determine whether the materials are covered by attorney-client privilege. Trump’s team also wants the special master to decide whether the former president can claim executive privilege over the documents.
The Justice Department has objected to the appointment, saying review by a special master would delay its investigation and hinder a national security review by the intelligence community.
On Aug. 8, FBI agents removed more than 100 documents containing classified information — including some marked top secret and meant to be available only in special government facilities — from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, along with 20 boxes of materials containing thousands of government records during a court-approved search.
FBI investigators are probing potential crimes, including violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice.
According to the investigation status report, the FBI completed its initial review of the recovered documents on Aug. 30. Materials flagged as potentially being subject to attorney-client privilege were not reviewed. Items marked classified have been segregated from the other recovered materials and are being stored separately. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is leading an assessment of the risks to national security that could result from disclosure of the seized materials.
