Former President Donald Trump accused FBI agents of taking three passports in their search of his Mar-a-Lago home one week ago.
The accusation, made in a Truth Social post on Monday, comes four days after a judge unsealed a search warrant, including an inventory of items taken from Trump’s residence in Florida, which showed some classified materials.
“Wow! In the raid by the FBI of Mar-a-Lago, they stole my three Passports (one expired), along with everything else,” Trump said. “This is an assault on a political opponent at a level never seen before in our Country. Third World!”
There is some speculation surrounding the multiple Trump passports, as some individuals may possess more than one for diplomatic or official business travel.
Not unusual. He probably has a personal passport and a diplomatic one. I’m not sure if the diplomatic one would still be active — it may well be a courtesy that State extends to former presidents to ease them through security.
— Gregory Korte (@gregorykorte) August 15, 2022
According to the search warrant’s inventory, several of the items confiscated were titled “secret,” “top secret,” and “confidential.” The unsealed documents also show the former president is being investigated for a potential Espionage Act violation and possible obstruction of justice.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and claims he declassified all the documents. After Fox News reported agents seized boxes containing records covered by attorney-client privilege and potentially executive privilege, Trump requested that they be returned.
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The raid has raised concerns about the placement of national security secrets. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), along with House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), sent a letter on Saturday to the director of national intelligence, asking for a national security damage assessment of the documents the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago. “The statutes the Justice Department are asserting in the search warrant, don’t even require that they still be classified. If they would be damaging to national security, it’s a problem. It’s a major problem,” Schiff said in an interview on CBS on Sunday.
“In executing search warrants, the FBI follows search and seizure procedures ordered by courts, then returns items that do not need to be retained for law enforcement purposes,” the FBI said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
