WASHINGTON — FBI agents obtained permission from a federal judge to search Donald Trump’s home after finding that the former president had unlawfully removed 184 classified documents from the White House and stored them in “unauthorized” places at his Palm Beach residence — including many related to “national defense information,” according to a redacted affidavit released Friday.
Trump himself had voluntarily turned over those classified documents — mixed among magazines, newspapers, photos, letters, notes and other miscellaneous material — in 15 boxes to the National Archives in January after the federal agency responsible for holding presidential and government documents demanded that the former president return his records to Washington.
The discovery of those classified documents — including 67 marked as “CONFIDENTIAL,” 92 as “SECRET” and 25 as “TOP SECRET” — formed the body of evidence that the Justice Department cited in the FBI’s search warrant that was approved by a judge on Aug. 5 — three days before the FBI raid on Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago.
