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Key lines from the search warrant and receipt for Trump's Florida home
By Marshall Cohen and Sara Murray, CNN Updated 5:14 PM ET, Fri August 12, 2022 (CNN)A federal judge on Friday unsealed the search warrant and property receipt from the FBI search of former President Donald Trump's resort in Palm Beach, Florida. The search, documents show, was an evidence-gathering step in a national security investigation about presidential records at Mar-a-Lago. Trump owns the sprawling estate, and it is his primary residence as well as a members-only club and resort. The FBI recovered 11 sets of classified documents from its search, including some materials marked as "top secret/SCI" -- one of the highest levels of classification, according to documents from the search warrant that were released Friday. It identifies three federal crimes that the Justice Department is looking at as part of its investigation: **violations of the Espionage Act **obstruction of justice **criminal handling of government records. The inclusion of the crimes indicates the Justice Department has probable cause to investigate those offenses as it was gathering evidence in the search. No one has been charged with a crime at this time. 'Receipt' of removed items One of the newly unsealed documents is a search warrant "receipt" listing the items that the FBI collected from Mar-a-Lago. That document reveals FBI agents removed more than 20 boxes from Trump's resort and residence in Palm Beach, as well as binders of photos, sets of classified government materials and at least one handwritten note. According to the search warrant receipt, federal agents seized: 1 set of "top secret/SCI" documents 4 sets of "top secret" documents 3 sets of "secret" documents 3 sets of "confidential" documents. |
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The warrant receipt didn't detail what such classified documents were about. Among the items taken: A document about pardoning Roger Stone, a staunch Trump ally who was convicted in 2019 of lying to Congress during its probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The Stone-related material taken from Mar-a-Lago was listed in the warrant receipt as "Executive Grant of Clemency re: Roger Jason Stone, Jr." Material about the "President of France." Trump pardoned Stone before leaving office, shielding him from a three-year prison term. It's unclear how the Stone-related document seized during the search is tied to the broader criminal probe into Trump's potential mishandling of classified materials. Areas authorized for search The judge authorized the FBI to search what the bureau called the "45 Office," as well as "all other rooms or areas" at Mar-a-Lago that were available to Trump and his staff for storing boxes and documents. "The locations to be searched include the '45 Office,' all storage rooms, and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by FPOTUS and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate," the warrant says, using the acronym "FPOTUS" to refer to the Former President of the United States. The FBI's warrant application to the judge specifically said that federal agents would avoid areas being rented or used by third parties, "such as Mar-a-Lago members" and "private guest suites." Trump owns the sprawling estate, and it is his primary residence as well as a members-only club and resort. "It is described as a mansion with approximately 58 bedrooms, 33 bathrooms, on a 17-acre estate," FBI agents told the judge in their application, describing the Mar-a-Lago property. trump220813 |
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