Trump papers ‘included material on intelligence, sources’: Justice Dept

WASHINGTON: The US Department of Justice has said it was investigating former president Donald Trump for removing White House records because it believed he had illegally retained documents, including some pertaining to government intelligence-gathering and sources - among the country’s most closely-held secrets.

The heavily redacted affidavit about government documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate that was released today contained some new details, though it did not unveil any major revelations.

Nevertheless, the affidavit could help explain why the Justice Department sought court approval for the 8 August search at the Florida resort. Much of the 32-page affidavit remains under seal.

In a separate filing made public today, the Justice Department said that information must remain confidential to protect a “significant number of civilian witnesses”, as well as law enforcement and the integrity of the investigation itself. Much of that court filing was also redacted.

The search by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago marked a significant escalation in one of the many federal and state investigations Mr Trump is facing from his time in office and in private business.

According to the document released today, an unidentified FBI agent said that the US National Archives had discovered scores of “documents bearing classification markings” containing “national defence information” when it recovered 15 boxes from Mar-a-Lago in January.

The agent who drafted the affidavit said that after the FBI had reviewed the initial batch of records, it believed there was probable cause to believe more documents were still inside Mar-a-Lago.

“There is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found at the premises,” the agent added.

The records also showed how Trump’s attorneys tried to convince the Justice Department not to pursue a criminal investigation, arguing Mr Trump had the authority to declassify documents.

“Any attempt to impose criminal liability on a President or former President that involves his actions with respect to documents marked classified would implicate grave constitutional separation-of-powers issues,” Mr Trump’s attorney Evan Corcoran wrote in a 25 May letter to the Justice Department’s head of counterintelligence.

“Beyond that, the primary criminal statute that governs the unauthorised removal and retention of classified documents or material does not apply to the president,” he added.