The FBI is investigating former US president Donald Trump for a possible breach of the Espionage Act following a raid of his Florida mansion.
A search warrant published on Friday night revealed that agents seized 11 sets of classified papers after raiding his Mar-a-Lago home on Monday.
The Washington Post cited “people familiar with the investigation” as it reported that documents involving nuclear weapons were among the items being sought from Mar-a-Lago.
The newspaper said there was “deep concern” at high levels of the US government about the type of information the ex-president had taken when he left the White House last year, and it was “in danger of falling into the wrong hands”.
Some of the papers were marked as top-secret and meant to be available only in special government facilities.
Mr Trump slammed the report as a “hoax” and that information he did have, was “declassified”.
On the three-page list of recovered items was an inventory of 20 boxes of items and binders of photos.
The warrant was unsealed after the US Justice Department asked a judge to share the receipt of contents seized so the public could see the details for themselves.
Mr Trump, who had encouraged the authorities to release details of the FBI raid, last night failed to deny allegations that the documents included secret papers about nuclear weapons.
The unsealed warrant allowed for “all physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed” to be removed”.
This included any documents with classification markings, national defence information, government reocrds between January 20, 2017 to January 20, 2021.
