Affidavit, unsealed by federal magistrate judge Bruce Reinhart, offers new details on probable cause and FBI sources
Here are five takeaways from the affidavit, in which the justice department also said the FBI had “not yet identified all potential criminal confederates” and “not located all evidence related to its investigation”:: the justice department had good reason to believe there were crimes being committed in specific areas of Mar-a-Lago, including Trump’s home, the foyer to his residence known as Pine Hall, his “45 Office” and a storage facility, among other locations.
The affidavit did not offer an indication about potential charges against the 45th and former president of the US, but it did mention the FBI believed that “evidence of obstruction” would be found at the premises – indicating a wider investigation than just the government’s efforts to recover sensitive documents.
The justice department explained in a footnote that the law criminalizes “the unlawful retention of information related to the national defense” that could harm the United States or aid an adversary, regardless of whether the document is classified or declassified.
The justice department said among the documents recovered by the National Archives, 184 had classification markings. Some also had markings denoting “SI” for special intelligence, “HCS” for intelligence from human clandestine sources, and “NOFORN” for “Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals”.
However, the affidavit made no mention of a lock. In fact, it showed the justice department told Trump’s lawyer Evan Corcoran in June that Mar-a-Lago was not authorized to store classified information and asked the room be preserved in its condition until further notice – suggesting it was already the subject of an investigation.
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