The FBI is combing through boxes of classified records seized at Mar-a-Lago, a monthslong process that may leave the government with a disappointing response to public calls for proof that searching a former president’s home was justified: Take our word for it.
The intensive operation by the Justice Department, its Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies to determine if criminal laws were broken or national security was damaged is complicated. Some items removed from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate are classified as top secret, meaning their public release may jeopardize U.S. interests. But if a prosecution goes forward, the documents may have to be revealed.
It will be a delicate dance between law enforcement and intelligence interests that might never result in the type of public reckoning that critics are demanding, according to current and former national security officials.
