Brian Butler (Mar-a-Lago)
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On August8, 2022, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
(FBI) executed a
search warrant A search warrant is a court order that a magistrate or judge issues to authorize Police, law enforcement officers to conduct a Search and seizure, search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to Confiscation, confiscate an ...
at
Mar-a-Lago Mar-a-Lago ( , ) is a resort and National Historic Landmark on a barrier island in Palm Beach, Florida, United States. It spans 126 rooms and built on of land. Since 1985, it has been owned by Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of t ...
, the residence of then-former U.S. president
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
in
Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...
. The search warrant application was authorized by
U.S. Attorney General The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the ...
Merrick Garland Merrick Brian Garland (born November 13, 1952) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as the 86th United States attorney general from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as a circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Dist ...
and approved by Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, following a criminal referral by the
National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
(NARA). The order, unsealed a few days after the search, showed that the FBI obtained the search warrant as part of an investigation into Trump relating to three federal criminal statutes: * violations of the
Espionage Act The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code ( ...
regarding unauthorized retention of national defense information; * destroying or concealing records "with the intent to impede obstruct or influence" federal government activity; * illegal removal or destruction of federal government records (without respect to cause). Later, courts released the
affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or ''deposition (law), deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by la ...
with redactions, giving the public a window into the FBI's goals in this search and what the FBI seized. In 2021, NARA tried to recover material, and Trump went through the material in his possession at the end of that year. Between May 23 and June 2, 2022, Trump's employee
Walt Nauta Waltine Torre Nauta Jr. (born ) is an American valet and body man to U.S. president Donald Trump. He was a defendant in a Federal prosecution of Donald Trump (government documents case), criminal case over violations of the Espionage Act and re ...
allegedly moved 64 boxes in and out of a storage room, according to surveillance footage subpoenaed by the Justice Department and as described in the indictment. The Justice Department said the classified documents at Mar-a-Lago were likely "concealed and removed" to block investigation. Over 13,000 government documents were recovered. They included nuclear-related information and FBI,
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
, and
NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...
information about national security interests. Of these documents, 337 were classified: 197 handed over in January 2022, 38 turned over under subpoena in June 2022, and 102 seized in the August search of Mar-a-Lago. Months later, at least two more documents with classified markings were uncovered at Trump locations. On June 8, 2023, Trump was
indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an indi ...
on federal charges related to the documents. On June 13, Trump surrendered to federal custody and was arrested, booked, processed, and arraigned in the U.S. District Court of South Florida. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 charges. On July 27, a new version of the indictment (superseding the old) added three counts against Trump. However, the judge dismissed the case on July 15, 2024. Though the special counsel initially appealed this dismissal, he dropped his appeal following Trump's election to the presidency that November and resigned before Trump took office.


Background


Handling, storage, and disposition of U.S. government records

The
Presidential Records Act The Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978, , is an Act of the United States Congress governing the official records of Presidents and Vice Presidents created or received after January 20, 1981, and mandating the preservation of all president ...
() establishes that presidential records belong to the United States and must be surrendered to the
Archivist of the United States The archivist of the United States is the head and chief administrator of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) of the United States. The archivist is responsible for the supervision and direction of the National Archives. The ...
at the end of a president's term of office (or second term of office, if consecutive). Unauthorized removal and retention of classified information of the United States government is a criminal offense under U.S. federal law; it has been a felony since the enactment of the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017, which was signed into law by President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
in January 2018 and increased the maximum term of imprisonment for this offense from one year to five years.


Criminal laws listed on search warrant

The search warrant and accompanying affidavit listed three federal criminal statutes as the basis of the investigation: " 18 U.S.C. §§ , , nd". The Sections cited are: * § 793, enacted as part of the
Espionage Act of 1917 The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code ( ...
, makes the unauthorized retention or disclosure of documents related to national defense, which could be used to harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary, a crime. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison. The Espionage Act was passed before the development of the modern classification system of the United States government, and thus does not refer to the classification status of the documents; unclassified "national defense information" would still be covered under the Espionage Act. As noted by the
Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...
, the "affidavit supporting the warrant focuses on subsection (e), which applies when an individual is in unauthorized possession of certain national defense information". * § 2071 criminalizes the theft or destruction of government records, regardless of their relevance to national security. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison. * § 1519, enacted as part of the
Sarbanes–Oxley Act The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 is a United States federal law that mandates certain practices in financial record keeping and reporting for corporations. The act, , also known as the "Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protectio ...
, criminalizes the act of destroying or concealing documents or records, regardless of their relevance to
national security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...
, "with the intent to impede, obstruct or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter" within the jurisdiction of any federal department or agency. The maximum penalty is 20 years in prison.


Classified material and the presidency

Beginning in 1940, U.S. presidents have used the constitutional and statutory
powers of the president of the United States The powers of the president of the United States include those explicitly granted by Article II of the United States Constitution as well as those granted by Acts of Congress, implied powers, and also a great deal of soft power that is atta ...
to create classification systems through
executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of the ...
s. The
Code of Federal Regulations In the law of the United States, the ''Code of Federal Regulations'' (''CFR'') is the codification of the general and permanent regulatory law, regulations promulgated by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government of the ...
contains rules for classified material as . Generally, the president and the
United States National Security Council The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the national security council used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and Foreign relations of the United States, foreign policy matter ...
set
information security Information security is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthorized or inappropriate access to data ...
policy such as the sharing and classification of information. The day-to-day oversight of the government-wide classification system is handled by the
Information Security Oversight Office The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) is responsible to the President for policy and oversight of the government-wide security classification system and the National Industrial Security Program in the United States. The ISOO is a compo ...
(ISOO), a component of the National Archives.


= Declassification, presidential powers and regulations

= Since the 1988 Supreme Court decision in ''Department of the Navy v. Egan'', there is consensus that a sitting president has broad Constitutional powers to classify (and declassify) information. However, there are procedures for doing so. Following former President Trump's claims that the documents found at Mar-a-Lago had been declassified, the Congressional Research Service issued a policy paper in August 2022 highlighting relevant regulations: per , the declassification process requires markings "uniformly and conspicuously applied to leave no doubt about the declassified status of the information and who authorized the declassification". In 2003,
Scooter Libby I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby (first name generally given as Irv, Irve or Irving; born August 22, 1950) is an American lawyer and former chief of staff to Vice President of the United States, Vice President Dick Cheney known for his high-profile indic ...
, former chief of staff to Vice President
Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...
, claimed to have received a direct but unrecorded disclosure order from President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
and Cheney to leak classified information to reporters. In what became known as the
Plame affair The Plame affair (also known as the CIA leak scandal and Plamegate) was a political scandal that revolved around journalist Robert Novak's public identification of Valerie Plame as a covert Central Intelligence Agency officer in 2003. In 2002, ...
, Libby was ultimately not charged for releasing classified information.
Steven Aftergood Steven Aftergood is a critic of U.S. government secrecy policy. He directs the Federation of American Scientists project on Government Secrecy and is the author of the Federation publication '' Secrecy News''. Life and career Aftergood has a BS ...
, a critic of U.S. government secrecy policy, said the case "highlights the fact that the president purports to, or does, stand outside of the classification system".


= Protocols for loss or compromise of classified material

= Federal regulations require that "any person who has knowledge that classified information has been or may have been lost, possibly compromised or disclosed to an unauthorized person(s) shall immediately report the circumstances to an official designated for this purpose." Regulations also require notification of the Director of the ISOO if the specific classified information could attract "significant public attention", if the information in question is voluminous, or if a key vulnerability has been exposed. The Department of Justice is also to be consulted if criminality is suspected.


Events leading to the search

When Trump left the White House, he brought government documents with him. "From January through March 15, 2021," the grand jury alleged, "some of Trump's boxes were stored in The Mar-a-Lago Club's White and Gold Ballroom, in which events and gatherings took place. Trump's boxes were for a time stacked on the ballroom's stage". In March, they were moved to a "business center". In April, they were moved to a "bathroom and shower" in the Lake Room.


NARA actions to retrieve presidential records from Mar-a-Lago

In February 2021, the
National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
(NARA), the federal agency that preserves government records, asked Trump to return presidential documents. By May 2021, NARA realized they were missing the correspondence sent from North Korean dictator
Kim Jong-un Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...
to Trump. They also knew they were missing other presidential documents like the altered Hurricane Dorian map. NARA contacted Trump's representatives. On May 6, NARA emailed Trump's lawyers with the request for their "immediate assistance" to return the Kim letters along with "roughly two dozen" boxes that were in Trump's White House residence during the final days of his presidency and that were sent to Florida, although Cipollone had determined they should have been sent to NARA. That month, Trump allegedly had some of the boxes brought to the Bedminster Club. In June 2021, NARA instructed a former lawyer in Trump's White House counsel's office to send them the Kim letters via
FedEx FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...
. On June 24, boxes in the Mar-a-Lago Lake Room were moved to the storage room. On November 21, 2021, a White House employee flew to Mar-a-Lago and advised Trump: "Whatever you have, give everything back. Let them come here and get everything. Don't give them a noble reason to indict you, because they will." In an FBI interview a year later, this person said they had believed that Trump would return the boxes to NARA. NARA and Trump's lawyers continued to negotiate. Between November 2021 and January 2022, Trump allegedly had his employees bring boxes out of the storage room and into his residence so he could review their contents. Trump did not request that they retrieve any specific boxes, nor any specific number of boxes, per the testimony of his valet Walt Nauta, who retrieved boxes and said he was unaware of their contents. Nauta took "roughly 15 to 17" boxes stored near Trump's bedroom in a room called Pine Hall, and "we transferred them into my car; from my car to the semi truck", as he would tell investigators several months later.


Partial return of records to NARA

In January 2022, NARA retrieved 15 boxes of documents, gifts, and other government property from Mar-a-Lago that should have been transferred to NARA at the end of Trump's term. The boxes included documents from the CIA, the FBI, and the
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...
on a variety of topics of national security interest. Archivists and federal agents determined that 184 unique documents (totaling 700 pages) had classification markings, of which 25 documents were marked "
top secret Classified information is confidential material that a government deems to be sensitive information which must be protected from unauthorized disclosure that requires special handling and dissemination controls. Access is restricted by law or ...
", 92 "
secret Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controver ...
" and 67 "
confidential Confidentiality involves a set of rules or a promise sometimes executed through confidentiality agreements that limits the access to or places restrictions on the distribution of certain types of information. Legal confidentiality By law, law ...
". This material included: * "sensitive national security information", including
signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...
and the Kim letters * documents governed by
special access program Special access programs (SAPs) in the U.S. Federal Government are security protocols that provide highly classified information with safeguards and access restrictions that exceed those for regular (collateral) classified information. SAPs can r ...
s (SAP), a type of protocol reserved for extremely sensitive U.S. operations conducted abroad, intended to significantly limit access to the information * documents marked as " HCS,
FISA The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA, , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence on domestic soil.
, ORCON, NOFORN, and SI" The document about Iran that he showed off at Bedminster in July 2021 may have been among the documents surrendered at this time; a military document marked "TOP SECRET//NOFORN" was in Trump's possession until January 17, 2022, and Trump was eventually charged with possessing it. Trump attorney Alex Cannon helped to transfer these 15 boxes to NARA. The documents were stored in a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) while DOJ officials considered how to proceed.


Trump's statement regarding return of records

After transferring the 15 boxes, Trump dictated a statement that "everything" requested by NARA had been returned, and he told Cannon to send a similar statement to NARA. Cannon declined because he was not sure it was true, and a different statement was released three days later, saying that " e papers were given easily and without conflict and on a very friendly basis".


NARA makes criminal referral

On February 7, 2022, NARA put out a news release acknowledging the receipt of the 15 boxes and the claim by Trump's representatives that they would look for more material. On February 8, NARA lawyer Gary Stern told colleagues that Cannon had told him he was unsure whether all relevant documents had been turned over. NARA itself had noted "reams of classified material and disorganized boxes" and remained suspicious, according to the ''Washington Post''. On February9, NARA sent a criminal referral to the
Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
(DOJ).


Tom Fitton's advice to Trump

Tom Fitton, president of activist group
Judicial Watch Judicial Watch (JW) is an American conservative activist group that files Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits to investigate claimed misconduct by government officials. Founded in 1994, Judicial Watch has primarily targeted Democrat ...
, advised Trump in February2022 not to give any more records to NARA. As justification, Fitton cited a 2012 case in which a federal judge said that NARA had no authority to designate materials as "presidential records" nor did it have the right to seize materials. That case concerned audio tapes of historian
Taylor Branch Taylor Branch (born January 14, 1947) is an American author and historian who wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning trilogy chronicling the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and much of the history of the American civil rights movement. The final volume o ...
privately interviewing his friend,
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
, during Clinton's presidency. Though NARA had previously said the tapes were private property, Judicial Watch demanded NARA seize the tapes and hand them over to Judicial Watch. The judge dismissed the lawsuit. Trump embraced Fitton's position and would continue to include him in discussions over a year later.


FBI/DOJ launches criminal investigation and issues subpoenas

In April 2022, the DOJ opened a criminal investigation and initiated a
grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...
process and instructed NARA not to share further details about the materials recovered from Mar-a-Lago with the
House Oversight Committee The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative United States congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one o ...
. The FBI interviewed Trump administration officials and aides at Mar-a-Lago about the handling of presidential records, including former White House Counsel
Pat Cipollone Pasquale Anthony "Pat" Cipollone (born May 6, 1966) is an American attorney who served as White House Counsel under President Donald Trump. While in office he defended Trump in his First impeachment trial of Donald Trump, first impeachment trial ...
and his former deputy Patrick Philbin. On April12, 2022, NARA said it would let the FBI access the documents retrieved from Mar-a-Lago. Trump's lawyers sought to delay this outcome. On May 10, Debra Steidel Wall, the acting
Archivist of the United States The archivist of the United States is the head and chief administrator of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) of the United States. The archivist is responsible for the supervision and direction of the National Archives. The ...
, wrote to Trump's attorney Evan Corcoran to reiterate that Trump had taken hundreds of pages of classified materials with him, including highly classified Special access programs materials, and that their extended negotiations over alleged executive privilege was delaying investigations and threat assessments already underway. She said that based on legal counsel she had decided not to honor their request for further delays. An ally of Trump made the letter public on August 22. When NARA provided the FBI with access to the records it retrieved, the FBI provided copies to individual agencies of the
US Intelligence Community The United States Intelligence Community (IC) is a group of separate US federal government, U.S. federal government intelligence agencies and subordinate organizations that work to conduct Intelligence assessment, intelligence activities which ...
to conduct classification reviews and determine whether their disclosure could put at risk sensitive sources.


May 2022 subpoena

Trump's team, anticipating a subpoena, practiced moving documents. Some officials have referred to this behavior as a "dress rehearsal". On May 11, the DOJ
subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
ed Trump for "any and all documents or writings in the custody or control of Donald J. Trump and/or the Office of Donald J. Trump bearing classification markings". Corcoran met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and began taking detailed notes (including voice memos) of several weeks of conversations in which he explained to Trump that he would indeed have to turn over all such documents or else risk the FBI searching Mar-a-Lago. Trump's advisers also repeatedly urged him to fully comply, and Trump eventually told them he had done so and did not want to discuss it further. On May 12, the DOJ issued a grand jury
subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
to the National Archives for the classified documents they had provided to the House select committee investigating the
January 6 United States Capitol attack On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of Donald Trump, President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup,Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * two months afte ...
. On May 22,
Walt Nauta Waltine Torre Nauta Jr. (born ) is an American valet and body man to U.S. president Donald Trump. He was a defendant in a Federal prosecution of Donald Trump (government documents case), criminal case over violations of the Espionage Act and re ...
, Trump's
personal assistant A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task. It is a subspecialty of secretarial duties ...
, spent a half-hour in the storage room and removed one box, according to the grand jury's allegations. Over the following days, at Trump's direction, Nauta removed about 64 boxes from the storage room and brought them to Trump's residence: three boxes on May 24, about 50 on May 30, and about 11 on June 1. When questioned by the FBI, at first Nauta denied any knowledge of the classified documents, but in a second interview he admitted his and Trump's involvement. Photos of him moving boxes on June 1 have since been made public. On June 2, Corcoran was scheduled to arrive in the afternoon to review the boxes in the storage room. At midday, before Corcoran's arrival, Mar-a-Lago maintenance chief Carlos de Oliveira together with Nauta moved about 30 boxes into the storage room, as shown on security footage. Corcoran was not informed that about 64 boxes had been moved out over recent days and that about 30 boxes had been moved in just hours previously. While Corcoran was in the storage room, Trump allegedly had someone change a lock on a closet at the front of the estate. The Secret Service used to have the key to the lock, but Trump reportedly wanted to be in charge of the key. In the storage room, Corcoran found 38 documents with classified markings and sealed them in an envelope. On June 3, Nauta asked Brian Butler, a 20-year-employee of Mar-a-Lago who ran the car service, for an
Escalade Escalade is the act of scaling defensive walls or ramparts with the aid of ladders. Escalade was a prominent feature of sieges in ancient and medieval warfare. Although no longer common in modern warfare, escalade technologies are still deve ...
so he could help load Trump's luggage onto a plane as Trump and his family departed for New Jersey. Butler lent him the car. Nauta and de Oliveira loaded boxes onto the plane. Butler assisted them, as handling Trump's luggage was normally part of his job; he did not know the boxes contained anything unusual. Later that day, investigators from the DOJ and the FBI came to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve the subpoenaed material. They met with Trump's attorneys, one of whom gave the agents 38 classified documents with HCS, SI and FISA markings in "a single Redweld envelope, double-wrapped in tape". Trump's custodian of records,
Christina Bobb Christina Bobb (born November 4, 1982) is an American lawyer, television personality and Republican Party official. She gained prominence for her television promotion of president Donald Trump and involvement in attempts to overturn the 2020 U. ...
, gave the DOJ a signed declaration that had been drafted by Corcoran, attesting that all classified material had been returned (though Trump's team may have been aware this was not true). During this visit, FBI agents noticed over 50 boxes in the storage room, but Trump's lawyers said they couldn't look inside. With the help of an informant, the DOJ came to believe that more classified documents remained on the premises. On June8, the FBI told Trump's team to better secure the storage area, so Trump aides added a padlock to the room. Less than two weeks later, Trump notified NARA to add
Kash Patel Kashyap Pramod "Kash" Patel (born February 25, 1980) is an American lawyer and former federal prosecutor serving as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation since 2025. He also served as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, To ...
, a former Trump administration official, and journalist John Solomon as "representatives for access to Presidential records of my administration."


June 2022 subpoena

On June 22, the DOJ emailed a draft of the grand jury's subpoena to one of Trump's attorneys. It asked the
Trump Organization Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021. ...
for surveillance footage of the Mar-a-Lago storage room. On June 23, Trump called de Oliveira. The following day, the FBI served the subpoena, asking for views from outside the storage room between January 10 and June 24. At 1:25 p.m., Corcoran spoke with Trump about it by phone. Within a few hours, Nauta changed his travel schedule for the next day; while he had planned to accompany Trump to Illinois, he now told others he would go to Palm Beach, Florida instead, and gave inconsistent reasons for his schedule change. On June 25, de Oliveira advised Butler that Nauta was about to arrive, that he sought information about old surveillance footage, and that his trip should be kept secret. On the morning of June 27, de Oliveira asked Yuscil Taveras, who worked in the IT office, how long security footage stayed on the server. Taveras said he believed it was generally retained for 45 days. De Oliveira said "the boss" wanted the footage deleted, but Taveras resisted. In early afternoon, de Oliveira and Nauta spoke in person, and in late afternoon, de Oliveira spoke to Trump by phone. In response to the subpoena, on July 6, the Trump Organization provided a hard drive. The footage showed Nauta moving the boxes. On July 10–12, Trump was at Mar-a-Lago "checking on the boxes," as one witness told investigators. Normally, he is in New Jersey at that time of year, and his residence at Mar-a-Lago was undergoing construction so he would have been unlikely to stay there. His trip to Mar-a-Lago was "kept quiet."


FBI/DOJ obtains search warrant from federal court

Federal agents established
probable cause In United States criminal law, probable cause is the legal standard by which police authorities have reason to obtain a warrant for the arrest of a suspected criminal and for a court's issuing of a search warrant. One definition of the standar ...
to obtain a search warrant against Trump because, while he had turned over some classified documents to federal authorities, agents suspected he was unlawfully withholding other classified information. The warrant was obtained by the Justice Department's
National Security Division National Security Division may refer to: * National Security Division (Malaysia), a Malaysian government agency * United States Department of Justice National Security Division The United States Department of Justice National Security Division (N ...
at the request of NARA to collect material that Trump had potentially not turned over to NARA. ''The New York Times'' reported: "Two people briefed on the classified documents that investigators believe remained at Mar-a-Lago indicated that they were so sensitive in nature, and related to national security, that the Justice Department had to act". However, Attorney General
Merrick Garland Merrick Brian Garland (born November 13, 1952) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as the 86th United States attorney general from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as a circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Dist ...
had contemplated for weeks whether to approve the application for the search warrant, after many meetings between senior DOJ and FBI officials. The search warrant showed that the FBI was investigating Trump for suspected violations of three Title 18 federal laws Section 793 (a part of the
Espionage Act of 1917 The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code ( ...
); Section 1519 (part of the fiscal oversight
Sarbanes–Oxley Act The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 is a United States federal law that mandates certain practices in financial record keeping and reporting for corporations. The act, , also known as the "Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protectio ...
); and Section 2071. Trump had not been charged with any crime. If charged and convicted under the third law, Trump would be "disqualified from holding any office under the United States". However, a number of legal scholars have questioned the constitutionality of that provision in the statute. Federal magistrate judge Bruce Reinhart of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida approved the warrant on August 5, 2022. Reinhart, who had previously been a federal prosecutor for a decade, was misidentified by some sources as being a Trump appointee, but the position in fact is one filled by the courts themselves. Reviewing and approving search warrants is a typical duty of federal magistrate judges. Legal experts noted that, given the high profile of the operation, the application for a search warrant (granted on probable cause) would have been first scrupulously scrutinized by federal authorities.
Will Hurd William Ballard Hurd (born August 19, 1977) is an American politician and former CIA clandestine officer who served as the U.S. representative for from 2015 to 2021. Following a nine-year stint with the CIA, Hurd ran for Congress in 2010 and ...
, a former
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
agent and former Texas Republican congressman, said: "Trump and his lawyers admitted to and then handed over presidential documents improperly taken from and stored outside the White House. Of course the FBI had probable cause to go in looking for more".


Search of Mar-a-Lago

On August 8, 2022, at 8:39 am, FBI agents searched Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago for the material specified in a warrant, including classified material. The material pertained to
special access program Special access programs (SAPs) in the U.S. Federal Government are security protocols that provide highly classified information with safeguards and access restrictions that exceed those for regular (collateral) classified information. SAPs can r ...
s according to ''The New York Times'' and according to ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''
nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...
s. The FBI notified the Secret Service of the search a few hours in advance. The Secret Service facilitated the FBI's access to Mar-a-Lago, but did not participate in the search. Trump's son,
Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-N ...
, said on
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
that he received a call about the search and informed his father shortly thereafter. Two of Trump's lawyers, Christina Bobb and Lindsey Halligan, were present for the search but were not allowed inside. Trump and his family watched most of the FBI search from New York remotely via a live video feed transmitted from Mar-a-Lago's system of security cameras. Trump and his attorneys refused the FBI's requests to turn off the cameras. Eric Trump later said that his family would release the footage "at the right time". FBI agents conducted the search using " taint teams" to ensure that no privileged correspondence between Trump and his lawyers were removed. ''The New York Times'' reported the FBI agents "carried out the search in a relatively low-key manner" and intentionally did not wear the usual navy-blue agency jackets. FBI agents searched a storage unit in the basement, where they broke through the newly installed padlock. They further searched what was called Trump's "45 Office," where they opened a "hotel-style" safe containing "nothing of consequence", and finally Trump's residence. Classified documents were also recovered from unsecured locations, and were found outside of the locked storage room. In accordance with the usual procedure for executing search warrants, the FBI provided Trump's counsel with a copy of the warrant and a detailed three-page manifest, called a property receipt, which listed the inventory of seized records. The FBI agents concluded the search at 4:33 p.m. and a receipt for property was provided to Trump's Attorney at 6:19 p.m. before agents left the property around 6:30 p.m. with the boxes. The FBI did not search a locked closet near the front of the estate (of which the FBI agents were aware during the search) nor a "hidden room" connected to Trump's bedroom (of which they were unaware), according to ABC News in February 2024. It is not clear whether any classified documents were in the rooms. Peter Schorsch, the publisher of ''
Florida Politics ''Florida Politics'' is a news site for politics in the state of Florida. It is operated by Peter Schorsch, who opened the site in 2013 and employs 17 freelance journalists. The site broke the news of the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. Its business m ...
'', was the first to report on the event. Trump also publicly acknowledged the search. The next day, August 9, at Mar-a-Lago, Trump aide Molly Michael found notes that Trump had previously given her written on the back of documents with classification markings. She helped turn over those documents to the FBI on the same day. Days later, some Mar-a-Lago employees were aware that the FBI had failed to search at least one room. Investigators with the
Smith special counsel investigation The Smith special counsel investigation was a special counsel investigation that was opened by United States Attorney General, U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland on November 18, 2022, three days after Donald Trump announced his campaign f ...
learned of this before Trump was indicted in June 2023, and they interviewed several witnesses. The FBI afterwards issued another subpoena for surveillance video from Mar-a-Lago for the weeks leading up to the search, suggesting Trump may still be withholding additional government documents. On August 26, Nauta asked a Trump employee to confirm in a group chat on Signal that de Oliveira remained loyal to Trump. The employee did so, and Trump called de Oliveira to say he would get him a lawyer. In November, a longtime Mar-a-Lago employee quit his job. He had helped move boxes and had heard certain conversations between de Oliveira and Nauta that were mentioned in the indictment. Judge Beryl Howell noted, ''"More classified-marked documents still were uncovered in November 2022 in a leased storage unit, in December 2022 in the Office at Mar-a-Lago, and apparently sometime thereafter in the former president’s own bedroom at Mar-a-Lago"''. The documents were found by Trump's attorneys, who provided them to the FBI in January 2023.


Search of other Trump properties

On December 7, 2022, it was reported that additional documents with classified markings had recently been found at another Trump location in
West Palm Beach West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...
, following a search of multiple locations, by a team hired through Trump's legal representatives. The documents were handed over to the FBI. Following this disclosure, the DOJ said Trump had not complied with the subpoena issued in May, but Judge Beryl Howell decided not to hold him in contempt of court.


Release of search warrant, property receipt, and affidavit


Release of search warrant and property receipt

In keeping with longstanding DOJ reticence to comment on ongoing investigations, as well as the tight limits
Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
Merrick Garland Merrick Brian Garland (born November 13, 1952) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as the 86th United States attorney general from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as a circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Dist ...
placed on such public statements, the government did not initially comment on the search. While the DOJ remained silent, a person close to Trump contacted a DOJ official to send a message from Trump to Garland. Trump wanted Garland to know that people around the country were angered by the search and what Trump could do to "reduce the heat". On August 11, the DOJ filed a motion in court to unseal the search warrant and property receipt, unless Trump objected to making them public. On the same day, Garland held a press conference, in which he said that the department had filed a motion to unseal the warrant and the property receipt "in light of the former president's public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances, and the substantial public interest in this matter", and that he had personally approved the decision to seek the search warrant. Garland also said that "upholding the
rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...
means applying the law evenly, without fear or favor" and criticized "recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors". Trump later said on social media that he supported the release of the warrant and related documents, though he declined to release them himself, and his legal team agreed that the court should release them. The search warrant and property receipt were unsealed (made publicly available) on the afternoon of August 12, with the signatures of two FBI agents redacted. A year later, it was revealed that there had been a total of eight search warrants and affidavits. The government wanted them to remain secret, and it was not revealed whether the other seven had been for different locations nor what material had been sought.


Seized materials

FBI agents seized over 13,000 government documents, among which they found 103 classified government documents. Documents and empty folders with classified markings were found both in the basement storage room and in Trump's ''45 Office''. The classified material was grouped into 11 sets. Of the classified material: * 18 documents were marked
top secret Classified information is confidential material that a government deems to be sensitive information which must be protected from unauthorized disclosure that requires special handling and dissemination controls. Access is restricted by law or ...
, and one of these sets had the control system protocol "top secret/SCI" (i.e.,
sensitive compartmented information Sensitive compartmented information (SCI) is a type of United States classified information concerning or derived from sensitive intelligence sources, methods, or analytical processes. All SCI must be handled within formal access control systems ...
). * 54 documents (grouped into three sets) were marked secret. * 31 documents (grouped into three sets) were marked confidential. Some documents were related to Trump's pardon of his ally
Roger Stone Roger Jason Stone (born Roger Joseph Stone Jr.; August 27, 1952) is an American Political consulting, political consultant and lobbyist. He is Donald Trump's longest-serving political adviser, best known for the Mueller special counsel investi ...
and some were related to the
president of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the po ...
. The property receipt, signed by Trump's attorney Christina Bobb at 6:19 p.m. at the end of the search, showed that Trump possessed documents marked "TS/SCI" and another item labeled "Info re: President of France". During the search, one personal and two official passports belonging to Trump, the personal and one official one expired, were taken from a desk drawer in Trump's office and later returned to him. In an August 30 court filing, the DOJ noted that the passports were located in a desk drawer in Trump's office that "contained classified documents and governmental records commingled with other documents" and thus subject to the terms of the warrant. Of the 13,000 documents seized, the Justice Department's filter team set aside 520 pages as potentially subject to attorney-client privilege. On September 6, ''The Washington Post'' reported that some of the seized documents contained details of special-access programs requiring special clearances on a need-to-know basis that could only be granted by "the president, some members of his Cabinet or a near-Cabinet-level official". They would normally be kept in a "secure compartmented information facility, with a designated control officer to keep careful tabs on their location." One of the documents described "a foreign government's military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities". Topics included Iran's missile program and U.S. intelligence operations involving China.


Missing materials

On October 1, 2022, ''The Washington Post'' reported that, according to two unnamed sources, NARA had informed the House Oversight Committee that some presidential records had not been recovered. On October 6, ''The New York Times'' reported that, according to two unnamed sources, the Justice Department informed Trump's lawyers "in recent weeks" that Trump is still holding material.


Motions to release search warrant affidavit

Many newspapers and media organizations motioned to unseal the probable-cause
affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or ''deposition (law), deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by la ...
which had been submitted to the judge on August 5 in support of the search warrant application. In court filings, DOJ opposed the affidavit's release, writing that "this investigation implicates highly classified materials" and that disclosure would compromise the integrity of the criminal investigation and the cooperation of witnesses in the matter and "other high-profile investigations"; the DOJ also cited "widely reported threats made against law enforcement personnel in the wake of the August 8 search". The DOJ said that if the magistrate judge ordered the release of the affidavit, the necessary redactions would render the unsealed text "devoid of any meaningful context", saying the "redacted version would not serve any public interest". The DOJ requested the magistrate to instead unseal other information, including a cover sheet, the DOJ's August 5 motion to seal the warrant and the judge's sealing order of the same day. On August 18, the federal magistrate judge held a hearing to discuss requests to unseal investigators' probable cause affidavit. Jay Bratt, head of the DOJ's counterintelligence division, said the investigation was in its "early stages". He argued that releasing the affidavit could reveal investigative techniques, jeopardize the identities of "several witnesses" from their specific accounts of events, as well as expose federal agents to threats. Bratt revealed that the affidavit contained "substantial grand jury information", including details about how "evidence of obstruction" would be found at Mar-a-Lago. Several media organizations asked the judge to unseal it with the necessary redactions, citing the public interest. The judge signalled that he planned to unseal portions of the affidavit and gave the DOJ a week to submit proposed redactions. Trump on social media repeatedly called for the release of the unredacted affidavit but his lawyers did not file a motion asking the court to do so. Also on August 18, the magistrate judge unsealed several procedural documents related to the warrant affidavit, including the criminal cover sheet, a redacted copy of the August 5 warrant application, the DOJ's original motion to seal warrant documents, and the order granting the sealing request. The documents showed that the FBI was specifically investigating whether there was "willful retention of national defense information", concealment or removal of government records, and obstruction of a federal investigation. In a 13-page order, released on August 22, the judge said he "carefully reviewed" the affidavit before approving the search warrant and was "satisfied that the facts sworn by the affiant are reliable". He said that the DOJ had shown a "compelling interest that overrides any public interest" in fully unsealing the affidavit. He indicated that he might agree with the DOJ that the necessary redactions would render the document useless. He rejected the DOJ's argument that partially unsealing the affidavit would set a dangerous precedent, highlighting the significance of this case. He requested the DOJ to submit proposed redactions and provide additional evidence and arguments within a week. On August 25, the Justice Department submitted a legal brief proposing redactions to the affidavit. The brief was under seal, and multiple media companies requested the judge to unseal it, as well as direct the DOJ to make public any other sealed documents. The judge soon agreed to the proposed redactions and ordered the DOJ to release the redacted affidavit the following day. The judge's decision to release the affidavit was seen as surprising, because probable-cause affidavits are typically kept under seal (i.e., not made public) before charges are filed.


Release of redacted search warrant affidavit

The redacted search warrant affidavit, along with a redacted copy of the legal brief that justified redactions to the affidavit, were unsealed and made public on August 26. ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
released
annotated An annotation is extra information associated with a particular point in a document or other piece of information. It can be a note that includes a comment or explanation. Annotations are sometimes presented in the margin of book pages. For anno ...
versions of the search warrant affidavit as well. The legal brief had argued that the DOJ's proposed redactions were necessary to protect the identities of cooperating witnesses and FBI agents who might otherwise be exposed to threats and retaliation, as well as to prevent obstruction of the investigation, protect privacy interests, protect grand jury information, and maintain the safety of law enforcement personnel. The affidavit listed four main goals of the FBI investigation: # To "determine how the documents with classification markings and records were removed from the White House (or any other authorized location(s) for the storage of classified materials) and came to be stored at ar-a-Lago; # To "determine whether the storage location(s) at ar-a-Lagowere authorized locations for the storage of classified information"; # To "determine whether any additional classified documents or records may have been stored in an unauthorized location at ar-a-Lagoor another unknown location, and whether they remain at any such location"; # And to "identify any person(s) who may have removed or retained classified information without authorization and/or in an unauthorized space". The FBI said there was "probable cause to believe" that classified national security materials were improperly transferred to "unauthorized" locations at Mar-a-Lago, that materials relating to national defense or presidential records "subject to record retention requirements" still remained at Mar-a-Lago, and that "evidence of obstruction" would be found at Mar-a-Lago. The FBI noted that several of the seized documents contained Trump's "handwritten notes" and were "unfoldered, intermixed with other records, and otherwise unproperly icidentified". The FBI attached to the affidavit a May 25, 2022, letter to the DOJ from Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran. In the letter, Corcoran argued against proceeding with a criminal investigation, saying that presidents have the "absolute authority" to declassify documents, although he did not clarify whether Trump had done so. Following Trump's indictment on June 8, 2023, media outlets asked for the affidavit to be unsealed. On July 5, the Justice Department revealed another version of the affidavit with fewer redactions. One revelation was that some of the seized documents contained Trump's handwritten notes, proving that he did handle those documents at some point during or after his presidency.
U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...
, Office of Information Polic
Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant
Monday 31 July 2023 10:30:14 AM PDT; modified Wednesday 9 August 2023 10:02:18 AM PDT; 01715-03012; Document ID: 0.7.499.57611;


Release of detailed property list

A detailed property list was unsealed on September 2 as a result of Trump's lawsuit against the United States. The list showed that Trump had intermingled classified items with other items, like documents and photographs without classification markings, news clippings, unspecified gifts, items of clothing, and a book. A box found in Trump's office is listed as containing "43 empty folders with classified banners; 28 empty folders labeled 'Return to Staff Secretary/Mili ry Aide'; 24 government documents marked confidential, secret or top secret; 99 news articles and other printed media; and 69 government documents or photos that were not classified." On May 3, 2024, Politico.com reported that, " ackSmith's team acknowledged Friday that some evidence in the prosecution of former President Donald Trump for hoarding classified documents at his Florida home may not be in the same sequence FBI agents found it when they swept into the Mar-a-Lago compound with a search warrant in August 2022. The concession from prosecutors in a court filing ... came after attorneys for one of Trump’s co-defendants asked for a delay in the case because the defense lawyers were having trouble determining precisely where particular documents had come from in the 33 boxes the FBI adseized almost two years arlier"


''Trump v. United States''

On August 22, two weeks after the search, Trump filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of Florida, seeking the appointment of a special master to review the seized materials for potential attorney-client or executive privilege. The case was assigned to District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee. On September 1, Cannon ordered the DOJ to release the previously sealed detailed property list of the seized materials. She ordered the DOJ to halt its review of all materials on September 5, and she appointed Raymond J. Dearie, senior judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, as special master on September 15. The next day, the DOJ appealed the ruling to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. On September 22, the appeals court granted the DOJ's request to restore investigators' access to the classified files and block the special master from access to them. On December 1, the appeals court ended the special master review, allowed the government to use all the documents in its investigation, and directed the lower court to dismiss Trump's lawsuit. The court ruled that Cannon lacked equitable jurisdiction to appoint a special master, that Cannon's decision did not meet the stringent standard for the judicial branch to intervene in ongoing investigations by the executive branch, and that the court would not make a special exception for former presidents. Trump did not appeal to the Supreme Court, and Cannon dismissed his lawsuit on December 12 for lack of jurisdiction.


Special counsel investigation

On November 18, 2022, Garland appointed a special counsel, federal prosecutor Jack Smith, to oversee the federal criminal investigation. The Justice Department's press release said that Smith would oversee "the ongoing investigation involving classified documents and other presidential records, as well as the possible obstruction of that investigation."


Indictment

On June 8, 2023, Trump was indicted with 37 counts of charges related to the documents in the Federal District Court in Miami, the first time a former U.S. president faced federal charges. Charges included retaining and failing to deliver national defense documents under the Espionage Act, for which there were 31 counts naming 31 specific documents. None of these documents had been in the boxes Trump voluntarily surrendered to NARA in January 2022; they were either turned over under subpoena the following June or else seized under search warrant at Mar-a-Lago the following August. On June 13, Trump was arrested and arraigned. As with his previous arraignment in New York, no mugshot was taken, though he was fingerprinted and processed during this arrest. As part of the conditions for his release, he avoided paying bond but was barred from discussing the case with Walt Nauta and with witnesses. On July 27, a superseding indictment added three more felony counts. A year later, on July 15, 2024, Judge Cannon dismissed the case, ruling that Jack Smith's appointment as special counsel had been unconstitutional. The Special Counsel appealed the dismissal, but following Trump's election to the presidency that November, it dropped the appeal.


Return of seized property

Once Trump took office for a second time, the Department of Justice arranged for the material seized in the August 2022 search to be returned to Trump. On February 28, 2025, as Trump boarded an
Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control-designated Aviation call signs, call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. The term is commonly used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modifie ...
flight from
Joint Base Andrews Joint Base Andrews (JBA) is a United States military facility located in Prince George's County, Maryland. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force (USAF) 316th Wing, Air Force District of Washington (AFDW). The bas ...
in Maryland headed to Mar-a-Lago, boxes were loaded onto the plane. Trump issued a statement: "The Department of Justice has just returned the boxes." White House Communications Director Steven Cheung and counselor to the president Alina Habba both used the phrase "personal items" in describing what those boxes contained.


Reactions


Congress

NARA's revaluation of presidential records retrieved from Mar-a-Lago raised concern within
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
; the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, chaired by U.S. Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, began an investigation. In a February 24 letter to NARA, Maloney wrote, "I am deeply concerned that former President Trump may have violated the law through his intentional efforts to remove and destroy records that belong to the American people". She requested the National Archives to provide documents about discussions among top Trump advisers about preserving and storing White House records. Maloney and Rep.
Adam Schiff Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from California, a seat he has held since 2024. A m ...
, chair of the
House Intelligence Committee The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Rick Crawford. It is the primary comm ...
, later sent a letter to
Avril Haines Avril Danica Haines (born August 27, 1969) is an American lawyer who served as the seventh Director of National Intelligence, director of national intelligence in the Presidency of Joe Biden, Biden administration. She is the first woman to serve ...
,
director of National Intelligence The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a Cabinet of the United States#Current Cabinet and Cabinet-rank officials, cabinet-level Federal government of the United States, United States government intelligence and security official. The p ...
(DNI) requesting a classified congressional briefing and a damage assessment. Haines responded that the DOJ and Intelligence Community were conducting a classification review of materials taken to Mar-a-Lago and a damage assessment of the potential risk to national security.
Mark Warner Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Virginia, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Warner served as the 69th gove ...
and
Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (; born May 28, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat serving since 2025 as the 72nd United States Secretary of State, United States secretary of state. A member of the Republican Party (United States) , Rep ...
, chair and ranking member of the
Senate Intelligence Committee The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (sometimes referred to as the Intelligence Committee or SSCI) is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of ...
, sent a private letter to Garland and Haines requesting that the DOJ and the Office of the DNI provide the committee with the classified documents seized and a damage assessment of potential risks to national security. According to an August 26 letter from Haines, a classification review and damage assessment inquiry is ongoing. The eight congressional leaders who are briefed on classified intelligence matters, colloquially known as the Gang of Eight, have asked the Biden administration for access to the seized documents. The
Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...
issued a "Sidebar" bulletin to brief members and Committees of Congress on the legal aspects of the case.


White House

The White House said that President Biden and White House officials were not aware of the search until it was reported on the news. Press Secretary
Karine Jean-Pierre Karine Jean-Pierre (born August 13, 1974) is an American political advisor who served as the White House Press Secretary, White House press secretary from May 2022 to January 2025, and a senior advisor to President Joe Biden from October 2024 t ...
said "those investigations should be free from political influence" and did not comment on the search itself except that the Department of Justice was carrying out the investigation. On August 17, the White House, in a statement to CNN, condemned calls from some members of the Republican Party to "defund the FBI". White House officials were privately concerned over the classified material stored in Mar-a-Lago, including whether it could put at risk the sources and methods of the
US intelligence community The United States Intelligence Community (IC) is a group of separate US federal government, U.S. federal government intelligence agencies and subordinate organizations that work to conduct Intelligence assessment, intelligence activities which ...
. On August 26, Biden mocked Trump for saying he had declassified all of the material he took with him to Mar-a-Lago and said he would let the DOJ make a determination on the risk to national security. In another speech on August 30, Biden condemned the threats against law enforcement and calls to defund the FBI as "sickening". He criticized Republicans for what he claimed was hypocrisy in what he described as their calls for "riots in the streets" and purported refusal to condemn the
January 6 United States Capitol attack On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of Donald Trump, President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup,Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * two months afte ...
. At the end of December 2022, Biden's attorneys found classified documents in Biden's former office and in his Delaware home, dating back to when he was vice president in the Obama administration. They surrendered the documents. Their discovery was reported in January 2023.


National Archives

The National Archives made multiple press statements concerning Trump's presidential records in response to media queries. They have also released numerous records relevant to the Trump administration's adherence to the Presidential Records Act in response to FOIA requests. On August 24, NARA staff told the House Committee on Oversight and Reform they could not be certain they had all of Trump's presidential records. The same day, in an internal letter to all NARA employees, acting Archivist Debra Wall said NARA had received both threats and praise from members of the public for its role in the ongoing FBI investigation. On September 13, Rep.
Carolyn Maloney Carolyn Jane Maloney (née Bosher, February 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2023, and for from 1993 to 2013. The district includes most of Manhattan's East Side, Astoria and Long I ...
of the
House Oversight and Reform Committee The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one of the most influential and powerful pan ...
wrote a letter to
NARA The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
, requesting an "urgent review" of all recovered documents and an assessment regarding any and all "presidential records
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
remain unaccounted for and potentially in the possession of the former president". On September 30, the National Archives responded to the committee's request, writing in part: "While there is no easy way to establish absolute accountability, we do know that we do not have custody of everything we should ... With respect to the second issue concerning whether former President Trump has surrendered all presidential records, we respectfully refer you to the Department of Justice in light of its ongoing investigation".


Trump, his family, and his attorneys

On August 14, Trump demanded the return of boxes of seized documents that were alleged covered by attorney-client privilege and executive privilege. Beginning with his first announcement after the search, Trump and his attorneys made a variety of statements relating to the search and the FBI investigation; these statements have been criticized as "shifting" over time and "often contradictory and unsupported". Zolan Kanno-Youngs and
Maggie Haberman Maggie Lindsy Haberman (born October 30, 1973) is an American journalist, a White House correspondent for ''The New York Times'', and a political analyst for CNN. She previously worked as a political reporter for the ''New York Post'', the ''Ne ...
, writing for ''The New York Times'', said that the former President's response "follow a familiar playbook" which " has used ... over decades", including during investigations into the many suspicious
links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies Since Donald Trump was a 2016 candidate for the office of President of the United States, multiple suspicious links between Trump associates and Russian officials were discovered by the Crossfire Hurricane (FBI investigation), FBI, a Mueller ...
and whether the Trump campaign conspired with Russia, as well as during his first impeachment trial. They also said that Trump's statements did not explain why he kept the documents after the government began investigating him. In an August 30 Fox News appearance, Trump attorney Jim Trusty said that his client's actions were comparable to someone with "an overdue library book" in their possession, and suggested that government prosecutors are holding Trump to a different standard of scrutiny than they would apply to others. According to ''The Washington Post'', Trump has struggled to assemble an experienced legal defense team, with many of his former lawyers declining to take part in the case. Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich said that Trump's lead counsel were exceptionally talented and had "litigated some of the most complex cases in American history". ''The New York Times'' credits political advisor
Boris Epshteyn Boris Epshteyn ( ; born August 14, 1982) is an American Republican political strategist, attorney, and investment banker. He is, since January 2025, the personal senior counsel to President Donald Trump. He was previously a strategic advisor ...
for his role in assembling Trump's legal team. Epshteyn previously assisted in the defense of Trump's false claims of a stolen election in 2020. Former Trump attorney David Schoen has said the current situation remains problematic, with members of the defense team "rotating in and out", and lacking clear leadership. Trump later added former Florida solicitor general
Chris Kise Christopher Michael Kise (born 1964 or 1965) is an American lawyer who served as the second Solicitor General of Florida from 2003 to 2006. Kise has served on the board of directors of Enterprise Florida, was an advisor to Republican politician ...
to his legal team for the case, but within a month, Kise's role was reportedly reduced. According to ''The New York Times'', Kise had "suggested hiring a forensic firm to search for additional documents" following requests from Jay Bratt at the Justice Department, who expressed concern that more documents were still missing. Disagreement between Trump's lawyers reportedly led to a minimization of Kise's participation on the defense team, due to his more conciliatory approach. Trump's
political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...
, the
Save America Save America (founded on November 9, 2020) is a leadership political action committee founded and controlled by 45th President and 47th President Donald Trump. It has been Trump's primary fundraising and political spending arm since he left hi ...
PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...
, sent out more than 100 fundraising emails in the days following the FBI search. Daily donations increased from an average of $200,000–$300,000 to more than $1,000,000 for at least two days. The emails claimed that former president Trump was being politically persecuted. In July, the Save America PAC paid almost $1,000,000 to civil and criminal lawyers representing Trump and the Trump Organization in lawsuits. On December 22, 2022, the U.S. House select committee investigating the January 6 attack published its final report, in which it remarked that DOJ appears to be "investigating the conduct of counsel for certain witnesses whose fees are being paid by President Trump's Save America Political Action Committee." The House committee noted that DOJ, in its public report of its Mar-a-Lago investigation, had seemed to express concern that those attorneys might be more loyal to Trump's defense than to their clients' defenses and thus may try to influence their clients' witness testimony. The House committee said it shared those concerns, and it revealed that it had provided related information to DOJ and Fulton County District Attorney
Fani Willis Fani Taifa Willis (; , ; born October 27, 1971) is an American attorney. She is the district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, which contains most of Atlanta, serving since 2021. She is the first woman to hold the office in Fulton County. Wi ...
. Related to these comments, the House committee cited three news reports.


Claims of political motivation, planted evidence, and Obama precedent

Trump likened the search to the 1970s
Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...
. He made unsubstantiated allegations that it was politically motivated to stop him from running for president in 2024, and a "politically motivated move" by the Biden administration. He criticized the FBI for searching his wife
Melania Trump Melania Knauss Trump (born Melanija Knavs, April26, 1970) is a Slovenian and American former model who is married to U.S. President Donald Trump. Since 2025, Melania Trump has served as the first lady of the United States, a role she previous ...
's rooms and belongings in Mar-a-Lago. On August 11, Trump made the unsubstantiated claim that the FBI might have doctored evidence to support its search warrant and might have planted incriminating materials and recording devices at Mar-a-Lago. Trump's allies echoed these conspiracist claims. On August 12, he claimed that his lawyers had been fully cooperating with federal investigators prior to the search: "The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it". On August 12, Trump falsely claimed that former president
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
had taken "33 million pages of documents, much of them classified" to Chicago; the falsehoods were amplified by conservative commentators on Fox News. NARA responded that they had taken "exclusive legal and physical custody" of Obama's records when he left office in 2017, and that Obama had "no control over where and how" NARA stored the records, with NARA "exclusively" maintaining around 30 million pages of unclassified Obama records near Chicago, while classified Obama records were maintained by NARA in its Washington, D.C., facility. After ''The Washington Post'' reported that nuclear documents were being sought in the search of Mar-a-Lago, Trump said on August 12: "Nuclear weapons issue is a Hoax". Trump also falsely claimed that former president Obama had retained "lots" of nuclear documents. On May 21, 2024, by misrepresenting standard Justice Department policy on use of force, Trump falsely claimed Joe Biden had been ready to kill him during the FBI search. The accusation was noted to be without precedent in modern U.S. history. Trump's campaign sent an email with the subject line: "They were authorized to shoot me!" The email said: "You know they’re just itching to do the unthinkable … Joe Biden was locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger." The same day, he posted to Truth Social saying that "Joe Biden’s DOJ ... AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE." Trump's comment was in reaction to a standard law enforcement policy statement, attached to the FBI's description of the planned search of Mar-a-Lago, that officers may use lethal force only to counter "imminent danger of death or serious physical injury". The FBI had taken steps to ensure that Trump would not be present during the search and gave advance notice to the Secret Service. On May 24, Jack Smith's office asked Judge Cannon to place a gag order on Trump related to this "repeated mischaracterization" of the actions of law enforcement officials.


Claims of declassifying all documents

On August 12, Trump posted to Truth Social claiming that the documents he brought to Mar-a-Lago were "all declassified" before he left office. That day, his office issued a statement admitting that he had frequently taken home classified documents and further claiming that he had issued a "standing order" that anything he took home was automatically and "instantly" declassified. On June 29, 2023, government attorneys responded to a
Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act (United States) of 1966 * F ...
request from Bloomberg News, saying they found no record of any such standing order. Sections of the Code of Federal Regulation addressing declassification require markings that are "uniformly and conspicuously applied to leave no doubt about the declassified status of the information and who authorized the declassification". Speaking to ''
Breitbart ''Breitbart News Network'' (; known commonly as ''Breitbart News'', ''Breitbart'', or ''Breitbart.com'') is an Radical right (United States), American far-rightMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * syndicated news, opinion, and commentar ...
'' in May 2022, discussing the documents that NARA had recovered the previous January, Kash Patel blamed White House lawyers for not having done the paperwork to remove the classification markings to conform to Trump's order. Except for Kash Patel, former Trump administration officials said they never heard of such a "standing order" issued by Trump, and labeled the claim false. *
John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican Party (United States), Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to ...
, who was Trump's national security advisor, said that Trump's claim was a "complete fiction" and "almost certainly a lie". Bolton said he never heard of such an order before, during, or after his tenure as national security advisor. Bolton said: "When somebody begins to concoct lies like this, it shows a real level of desperation". * Glenn S. Gerstell, who served as the general counsel for the
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...
from 2015 to 2020, called Trump's claim "preposterous", as declassification requires recordkeeping as well as notifying the agencies that used the information. *
Leon Panetta Leon Edward Panetta (born June 28, 1938) is an American retired politician and government official who has served under several Democratic administrations as secretary of defense (2011–2013), director of the CIA (2009–2011), White House chi ...
, former Secretary of Defense and Director of the CIA under the Obama administration, similarly said Trump's claim was "pretty much BS". He explained that the declassification process requires authorization by various agencies. "There is nothing that I'm aware of that indicates that a formal step was taken by this president to, in fact, declassify anything", Panetta said. A Congressional Research Service memo noted that a proper declassification process would have required Trump to communicate his intent to declassify specific documents. The same memo points out that the government had a legal basis to seize presidential records regardless of whether they are classified, and that classified material could furthermore indicate a violation of the Espionage Act. On September 20, 2022, Trump's lawyers appeared before Judge Dearie and said they would not mention Trump's claim of a "standing order" in court, claiming that doing so might reveal a potential defense in a future indictment. The next day, a three-judge appellate panel of the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled there was "no evidence that any of these records were declassified" and observed that Trump's lawyers had "resisted providing any evidence that he had declassified any of these documents". On September 21, 2022, Trump appeared on the ''
Hannity ''Hannity'' is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative television political Talk show, talk program on Fox News hosted by Sean Hannity. Episodes air live at 9:00 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, while episodes that ai ...
'' show on Fox News, claiming that "there doesn't have to be a process" and a president "can declassify just by saying, 'It's declassified.' Even by thinking about it." This notion was "mocked" by legal experts. Lawyers noted that "even if Trump did somehow declassify the documents, he had no right to take them when he left office on Jan. 20, 2020 ... rumphad no (legal) interest in these documents." The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals noted that "the declassification argument is a '
red herring A red herring is something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important question. It may be either a logical fallacy or a literary device that leads readers or audiences toward a false conclusion. A red herring may be used intentiona ...
'."


Lawsuit

On August 7, 2024, Trump filed a tort claim saying he intended to sue the FBI for $100 million. The FBI has six months to respond, after which Trump can sue.


Trump allies and supporters

On the day of the search, a group of about two dozen Trump supporters gathered in protest in front of Mar-a-Lago; others held protests in front of FBI offices in
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
, and Washington D.C. Over the next few days, Trump supporters continued to demonstrate outside Mar-a-Lago, and at several pickets outside a number of FBI field offices in various states. A small group of armed Trump supporters protested outside the FBI office in Phoenix.
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
reporter Robert Costa reported that within Trump's circle, "Some allies are urging him to speed up his decision on 2024 in the wake of this, that no one in heGOP will challenge him now... others are telling him to stay cool, wait". Trump allies in Congress and in right-wing media spread a wide variety of misinformation and baseless conspiracy theories: that the FBI may have planted evidence; that the FBI search aimed to stop Trump from exposing criminals in government; that the FBI conducted a "military occupation" of Mar-a-Lago; that the FBI entered Mar-a-Lago "unannounced" and was "taking whatever they want for themselves"; and that some FBI agents went "rogue". Patel repeatedly blamed the
General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. G ...
(GSA) for "mistakenly pack ngsome boxes and mov ngthem to Mar-a-Lago". The GSA replied that it was the outgoing presidential transition team and their volunteers who packed the boxes, put them on pallets, and shrink-wrapped them. Many of Trump's allies, including
Steve Bannon Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist for the first seven months of president Donald Trump's first ...
, urged Trump to publicly release some of the surveillance footage of the search or use it in political campaign ads. Others cautioned him that releasing the tapes could backfire by revealing the sheer volume of classified information removed from his residence and countering some of his unsupported claims. The footage could further expose the identities of FBI agents videotaped and subject them to further threats and harassment. Fox News host
Brian Kilmeade Brian Kilmeade (born May 7, 1964) is an American television and radio presenter and political commentator for Fox News. On weekdays, he co-hosts the morning show '' Fox & Friends'' and he hosts the Fox News Radio program ''The Brian Kilmeade Sh ...
, while guest hosting ''
Tucker Carlson Tonight ''Tucker Carlson Tonight'' is an American conservative talk show and current affairs program hosted by political commentator Tucker Carlson. The show aired on Fox News from November 14, 2016, to April 21, 2023, replacing '' On the Record'' ho ...
'', showed a doctored photo depicting the federal magistrate judge who approved the warrant together with convicted sex trafficker
Ghislaine Maxwell Ghislaine Noelle Marion Maxwell ( ; born 25 December 1961) is a British-French-American former socialite and convicted sex offender. She was found guilty of child sex trafficking and other offences in connection with the deceased financier and ...
; Kilmeade later described the fake photo as "a meme" shared "in jest". The FBI search ignited apocalyptic, violent rhetoric among Trump supporters, including members of the
far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
, on media including
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
,
Newsmax Newsmax, Inc. (or Newsmax.com, previously styled NewsMax) is an American cable news, political opinion commentary, and digital media company founded by Christopher Ruddy in 1998. It has been variously described as conservative, right-wing, an ...
, PJ Media, the Blaze, and right-wing talk radio. Talk of civil war and violence spiked online among far-right users on platforms such as Truth Social, Gab,
Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...
, and Twitter, including from conservative commentator
Steven Crowder Steven Blake Crowder (; born July 7, 1987) is an American-Canadian conservative political commentator and Internet personality. Early in his career, Crowder worked for Fox News and posted videos on conservative media platforms. He then began h ...
and white supremacist commentator
Nick Fuentes Nicholas Joseph Fuentes (born August 18, 1998) is an American Far-right politics, far-rightMultiple sources: * * * * * Pundit, political pundit, activist, and Online streamer, live streamer who promotes White supremacy, white supremacist, Hom ...
. The
New York Young Republican Club The New York Young Republican Club (NYYRC) is an organization for members of the Republican Party between the ages of 18 and 40 in Manhattan. The New York Young Republican Club is the oldest and largest chapter in the United States, founded in 1 ...
blamed the search on "internationalist forces and their allies intent on undermining the foundation of our Republic". Experts on
political violence Political violence is violence which is perpetrated in order to achieve political goals. It can include violence which is used by a State (polity), state against other states (war), violence which is used by a state against civilians and non-st ...
said that the extremist rhetoric creates a dangerous atmosphere and heightens the risk of violent acts.


Threats against government officials

FBI Director The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a United States federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI director is appointed for a ...
Christopher A. Wray Christopher Asher Wray (born December 17, 1966) is an American attorney who served as the eighth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2017 to 2025. He was nominated by President Donald Trump to replace James Comey. He was ...
denounced online threats against federal agents and DOJ employees. Wray said the FBI would "stay vigilant and adjust our security posture accordingly" given a surge of threats to FBI employees and property following the search of Mar-a-Lago. Kyle Walter, a researcher from Logically told ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' that the firm has observed a significant number of threats against FBI employees. The names of the two FBI agents who signed the warrant paperwork were redacted in the official court-released documents; the right-wing outlet
Breitbart ''Breitbart News Network'' (; known commonly as ''Breitbart News'', ''Breitbart'', or ''Breitbart.com'') is an Radical right (United States), American far-rightMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * syndicated news, opinion, and commentar ...
published leaked versions of the documents that revealed the agents' names, exposing them to harassment. The federal magistrate judge who approved the search was the target of
antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
vitriol, misinformation, and threats on sites such as
4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from video games and television to literature, cooking, weapons, mu ...
; due to online threats against him, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida removed information about the magistrate from its online directory for his protection. The synagogue he attended had also received threats and is under additional security. The FBI and
Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...
issued a joint bulletin warning of an "unprecedented" increase in threats and acts of violence against federal law enforcement officials, including "calls for the targeted killing of judicial, law enforcement, and government officials associated with the Palm Beach search, including the federal judge who approved the Palm Beach search warrant". Multiple possible targets of violence had their personal information posted online. The bulletin noted a threat to place a
dirty bomb A dirty bomb or radiological dispersal device is a radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. The purpose of the weapon is to contaminate the area around the dispersal agent/conventional explosion with ...
in front of
FBI Headquarters The J. Edgar Hoover Building is a low-rise office building located at 935 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Planning for the building began ...
. A man in
Mercer County, Pennsylvania Mercer County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 110,652. Its county seat is Mercer, Pennsylvania, Mercer, and ...
, was charged in US District Court with making online threats against FBI agents on the Gab social networking site. On August 19, lawmakers on the
House Oversight Committee The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative United States congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one o ...
contacted social media companies and requested information about recent threats made against law enforcement officials by users of their platforms. Letters sent by lawmakers specifically cited threats published on
Truth Social Truth Social (stylized as TRUTH) is an alt-tech social media platform owned by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), an American media and technology company majority-owned by U.S. president Donald Trump. It has been called a "Twitter clone" ...
, which has seen a significant increase in app downloads following the Mar-a-Lago search. The letter expressed concern because "reckless statements by the former president and Republican Members of Congress have unleashed a flood of violent threats on social media" and they urged platforms to take immediate, concrete action to limit incitement of violence against law enforcement agencies.


FBI field office attack

Ricky Shiffer, a 42-year-old Trump supporter wearing body armor and armed with an AR-15 style rifle and a
nail gun A nail gun, nailgun or nailer is a form of hammer used to drive nails into wood or other materials. It is usually driven by compressed air ( pneumatic), electromagnetism, highly flammable gases such as butane or propane, or, for powder-actua ...
, attempted to breach the FBI field office in
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, Ohio, on August 11 and died in a subsequent confrontation with police officers. He had taken part in the
January 6 United States Capitol attack On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of Donald Trump, President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup,Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * two months afte ...
, and was one of the most prolific posters on Trump's social media platform
Truth Social Truth Social (stylized as TRUTH) is an alt-tech social media platform owned by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), an American media and technology company majority-owned by U.S. president Donald Trump. It has been called a "Twitter clone" ...
, where he posted about his desire to kill FBI agents after the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. Shiffer had engaged in violent extremist rhetoric on social media for years, and the FBI received a tip about him in May 2022.


Republican elected officials and candidates

The
Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...
, as well as most Republicans, responded to the FBI search by attacking the FBI and depicting Trump as a victim and political martyr. Republicans said that the search made the U.S. into a "third-world country" or "
banana republic In political science, the term ''banana republic'' describes a politically and economically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resource.A banana republic is a country with an economy of state capitalism, where th ...
", although democracies such as France, South Korea, and Israel have all investigated and prosecuted former leaders for criminal offenses. Many Republicans vowed to investigate the DOJ if the party retook control of Congress in the November 2022 elections. There is no evidence of improper conduct by federal investigators, and no evidence that the search was politically motivated. Several Republican politicians, including U.S. Senators
Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers; born December 1, 1952) is an American attorney, businessman, politician, and United States Navy, Navy veteran serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of F ...
and
Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (; born May 28, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat serving since 2025 as the 72nd United States Secretary of State, United States secretary of state. A member of the Republican Party (United States) , Rep ...
of Florida, and Florida Governor
Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician, attorney, and former United States Navy, naval officer serving as the 46th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Pa ...
condemned the search. In a tweet, House Minority Leader,
Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 55th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from January until he was Remova ...
said the Justice Department "has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization" and said: "When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned. Attorney General
Garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. In contemporary times ...
, preserve your documents and clear your calendar". Republican Congresswoman
Marjorie Taylor Greene Marjorie Taylor Greene ( Taylor; born May 27, 1974), sometimes referred to by her initials MTG, is an American far-rightSources describing Greene as "far-right" include: * * * * * * * * * * * politician, businesswoman, and cons ...
of Georgia called for the FBI to be defunded. Senator
Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
called for the Espionage Act to be repealed. Anthony Sabatini, a Republican member of the
Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...
called for the state to "sever all ties with DOJ immediately" and called for FBI agents to be "arrested upon sight". Many Republicans accused the DOJ and FBI of a double standard for their previous treatment of the
Hillary Clinton email controversy During Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State, her tenure as the United States secretary of state, Hillary Clinton drew controversy by using a private email server for official public communications rather than using official State Depa ...
, where former Democratic nominee
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
was investigated but not charged over classified material found on her private email server during her tenure as
US secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
. Sen.
Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (; born July 9, 1955) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A membe ...
of South Carolina predicted the likelihood of street violence if Trump was indicted. Some Republicans took a more restrained tone upon reports that the documents seized were highly classified, but nonetheless questioned the search. Multiple Republicans called on the DOJ and FBI to release or share to Congress documents surrounding the search, particularly the affidavit used as the basis of the warrant.
Mike Turner Michael Ray Turner (born January 11, 1960) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 2013. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was previous ...
, the
ranking member In United States politics, a ranking member is the most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the minority party. On many committees the ranking minority member, along with the Chair, serve as ''ex officio'' members ...
of the
House Intelligence Committee The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Rick Crawford. It is the primary comm ...
, said that he was "very concerned about the method that was used in raiding Mar-a-Lago"; Brian Fitzpatrick questioned whether "the law is being enforced equally" and with "parity". Republican congresswoman
Liz Cheney Elizabeth Lynne Cheney (; born July 28, 1966) is an American attorney and politician. She represented in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023, and served as chair of the House Republican Conference from 2019 to 2021. Cheney i ...
, the top Republican on the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, criticized her party's response to the federal investigation of Trump, writing, "I have been ashamed to hear members of my party attacking the integrity of the FBI agents involved with the recent Mar-a-Lago search. These are sickening comments that put the lives of patriotic public servants at risk". On September 22, Senators
Thom Tillis Thomas Roland Tillis ( ; born August 30, 1960) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from North Carolina, a seat he has held since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Tillis served in the North Carolina House ...
and Lindsey Graham acknowledged that there's a "process" for declassification, and Senator
John Thune John Randolph Thune ( ; born January 7, 1961) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Dakota, a seat he has held since 2005. A Republican, Thune has been the Senate majority leader and Senate Republica ...
said the process "ought to be adhered to and followed". Senator
Mike Braun Michael Braun (born March 24, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 52nd governor of Indiana since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he served from 2019 to 2025 as a United States senator from Indiana and from 2 ...
said he was unaware of "the proper methodology" for declassification. Senator
Mike Rounds Marion Michael Rounds (born October 24, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator from South Dakota since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 31st governor of South Dakota ...
commented on the importance of storing information correctly: "People can get hurt, people can get killed if it's not stored correctly, and if that information gets out." On September 25, Senator
John Barrasso John Anthony Barrasso III ( ; born July 21, 1952) is an American physician and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Wyoming, a seat he has held since 2007. A mem ...
, pressed by ABC host George Stephanopoulos, acknowledged: "I don't think a president can declassify documents by saying so, by 'thinking about'."


Congressional Democrats

House Democrats praised the search as a step toward accountability for Trump.
Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...
, the
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House or House speaker, is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United ...
, said in an interview after the search, "We believe in the rule of law. That's what our country is about. And no person is above the law. Not even the president of the United States. Not even a former president of the United States". Senate Democrats offered more reserved reactions; in the immediate aftermath of the search,
Senate Majority Leader The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and people of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as chief spokespersons for their respective political parties, holding the ...
Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York, a seat he has held since 1999. ...
said he would "withhold comment until we know more".


Scholars and former officials

Following the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago,
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
and
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...
cited scholars and former officials, who said the way Trump used the residence presented a highly unique security "nightmare". Commenting on a 2017 North Korea strategy meeting between Trump and
Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...
which was surrounded by guests, national security lawyer Mark Zaid stated, "What we saw was Trump be so lax in security that he was having a sensitive meeting regarding a potential war topic where non-U.S. government personnel could observe and photograph". Mary McCord, a former Department of Justice official, stated: "Clearly they thought it was very serious to get these materials back into secured space. Even just retention of highly classified documents in improper storage particularly given Mar-a-Lago, the foreign visitors there and others who might have connections with foreign governments and foreign agents creates a significant national security threat". In 2019, a Chinese citizen with false passports, possessing a thumb drive containing malware, was arrested attending a function there. Experts considered Trump "the perfect profile of a security risk: He was like a disgruntled former employee, with access to sensitive government secrets, dead set on tearing down what he believed was a deep state out to get him".
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
political scientist
David Rothkopf David J. Rothkopf (born December 24, 1955) is an American foreign policy, national security and political affairs analyst and commentator. He is the founder and CEO of TRG Media and The Rothkopf Group, a columnist for ''The Daily Beast'' and a f ...
viewed the Mar-a-Lago search as a reminder that Trump "was, and is, a national security risk unlike any the United States has ever faced". Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter
Michael Sallah Michael D. Sallah is an American investigative reporter and non-fiction author who has twice been awarded the Pulitzer Prize and is a three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. Life Sallah graduated from St. John's Jesuit High School, a college prepa ...
of the ''
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...
'' discovered that a Ukrainian-born Russian speaker using a fake name who claimed to be a
Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, ...
heiress had frequented the residence over a year's time, even posing there for photos with Trump and Senator
Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (; born July 9, 1955) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A membe ...
.


Intelligence community

Former
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) is a statutory office () that functions as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, which in turn is a part of the United States Intelligence Community. The director reports to the D ...
John Brennan called the storage of sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago "the height of recklessness and irresponsibility".
Dan Coats Daniel Ray Coats (born May 16, 1943) is an American politician, attorney, and diplomat. From 2017 to 2019, he served as the Director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a Unite ...
,
Director of National Intelligence The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a Cabinet of the United States#Current Cabinet and Cabinet-rank officials, cabinet-level Federal government of the United States, United States government intelligence and security official. The p ...
(DNI) under Trump from 2017 to 2019, defended the FBI stating that "my first thought was Chris raywould not have signed off on that unless he thought the process was not working or they were not getting the right answers back from lawyers or others and it was serious enough to take that action". Asha Rangappa, a former FBI agent and former associate dean at Yale Law School, stated that Trump's acknowledgment that the documents seized were covered or potentially covered by
executive privilege Executive privilege is the right of the president of the United States and other members of the executive branch to maintain confidential communications under certain circumstances within the executive branch and to resist some subpoenas and ot ...
indicated that he had kept presidential records that he was not authorized to have under 18 USC 2071. She stated: "And so it's not clear that executive privilege would even be relevant to the particular crime he's being investigated for and yet in this filing, he basically admits that he is in possession of them, which is what the government is trying to establish". Jeffrey Smith, former general counsel to the CIA, and David Laufman, former chief of the counterespionage section at the DOJ's National Security Division, warned of the investigation not having strong enough evidence to have a conviction at trial.


Former Trump administration figures

Former Vice President
Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...
stated immediately following the August 2022 search that it undermined public confidence in the justice system. He noted that "no former President of the United States has ever been subject to a raid of their personal residence". Pence denied having any classified documents, but in January 2023, classified documents were found at Pence's Indiana home. Trump's former chief of staff, John F. Kelly, said that Trump has a long track record of disregarding rules for handling sensitive documents; that Trump "didn't believe in the classification system"; and that Trump held U.S. intelligence in disdain.
William Barr William Pelham Barr (born May 23, 1950) is an American attorney who served as United States Attorney General, United States attorney general in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993 and again in the first adminis ...
said in an interview that he could not think of a legitimate reason for Trump to be in possession of classified documents and that the documents, whether classified or not, belong to the government and should have been turned over to NARA. Trump's former national security adviser
John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican Party (United States), Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to ...
said "almost nothing would surprise me about what's in the documents at Mar-a-Lago". He recalled that although Trump usually did not read the
President's Daily Brief The President's Daily Brief, sometimes referred to as the President's Daily Briefing or the President's Daily Bulletin, is a top-secret document produced and given each morning to the president of the United States; it is also distributed to a ...
, he would sometimes ask his briefers "to keep the highly classified visual aids, pictures, charts and graphs" that were prepared for him, and that Trump sometimes refused to return these materials when asked by his briefers. On November 3, 2022, Trump adviser
Kash Patel Kashyap Pramod "Kash" Patel (born February 25, 1980) is an American lawyer and former federal prosecutor serving as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation since 2025. He also served as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, To ...
testified before a federal grand jury investigating the handling of records taken to Mar-a-Lago home. The judge granted Patel immunity from prosecution on any information he provides to the investigation. Trump's Save America PAC paid Patel's legal fees.


Notes


See also

*
Joe Biden classified documents incident On January 9, 2023, CBS News reported that attorneys for U.S. President Joe Biden discovered Classified information, classified government documents in his former office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., and in his personal residenc ...
* Mike Pence classified documents incident


References


External links


Tracker: Evidence of Trump’s Knowledge and Involvement in Retaining Mar-a-Lago Documents
from the Reiss Center on Law and Security at the
New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

Trump and the Mar-a-Lago documents: A timeline
''The Washington Post'' − Key events, from Trump's departure of the White House on January 20, 2021, up to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago on August 8, 2022 {{Authority control 2022 in Florida 2022 controversies in the United States August 2022 in the United States Classified information in the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation operations Donald Trump controversies Mar-a-Lago