The Justice Department redacted the FBI search warrant affidavit’s response to declassification claims made by a lawyer and aide for former President Donald Trump.
The affidavit justifying the FBI’s unprecedented raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home was publicly released by the Justice Department on Friday.
A special agent with the FBI’s Washington Field Office, whose name is redacted, writes that “the government is conducting a criminal investigation concerning the improper removal and storage of classified information in unauthorized spaces, as well as the unlawful concealment or removal of government records,” arguing the investigation “began as a result of a referral” from the National Archives and Records Administration to the Justice Department in February.
In a section of the affidavit preceded by roughly two pages of complete redactions, the FBI special agent noted the pushback from Trump’s lawyer and a top aide of the former president. Trump is dubbed “FPOTUS” — former president of the United States — throughout the affidavit.
“[REDACTED] In the second such letter, which is attached as Exhibit 1, FPOTUS COUNSEL 1 asked DOJ to consider a few ‘principles,’ which include FPOTUS COUNSEL 1’s claim that a President has absolute authority to declassify documents,” the FBI agent wrote in the affidavit, noting that the Trump lawyer requested that the “DOJ provide this letter to any judicial officer who is asked to rule on any motion pertaining to this investigation.” The May 25 letter in question is from Trump attorney M. Evan Corcoran.
The FBI agent then said they were aware of a Breitbart article, published May 5, in which former Trump official Kash Patel had alleged reports NARA had found classified materials “misleading” because “FPOTUS had declassified the materials at issue.”
The next seven paragraphs of the affidavit, spanning two and a half pages, are entirely redacted.
REDACTED AFFIDAVIT JUSTIFYING MAR-A-LAGO RAID RELEASED
Corcoran’s letter, included as an attachment at the end of the affidavit and written on Trump’s behalf, was addressed to Jay Bratt, the chief of the counterintelligence and export control section of DOJ’s National Security Division, who has been involved in the Mar-a-Lago investigation.
Corcoran pointed to “a few bedrock principles,” including that “A President Has Absolute Authority To Declassify Documents.”
“Under the U.S. Constitution, the President is vested with the highest level of authority when it comes to the classification and declassification of documents,” Corcoran told the DOJ official, adding, “Presidential Actions Involving Classified Documents Are Not Subject To Criminal Sanction. 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. Beyond that, the primary criminal statute that governs the unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material does not apply to the President.”
Corcoran also emphasized, “DOJ Must Be Candid With Judges And Present Exculpatory Evidence.” He further argued, “It is critical … that every effort is made to ensure that actions by DOJ that may touch upon the former President, or his close associates, do not involve politics.” The Trump lawyer claimed that Trump had cooperated with the National Archives in good faith.
“Unfortunately, the good faith demonstrated by President Trump was not matched once the boxes arrived at NARA,” Corcoran contended. “Leaks followed. And, once DOJ got involved, the leaks continued. Leaks about any investigation are concerning. Leaks about an investigation that involve the residence of a former President who is still active on the national political scene are particularly troubling.”
INSIDE THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE’S RUSSIA DECLASSIFICATION EFFORT
Patel, who served as the Pentagon chief of staff and as principal deputy to the acting director of national intelligence, told Breitbart in May that “Trump declassified whole sets of materials in anticipation of leaving government that he thought the American public should have the right to read themselves.”
“The White House counsel failed to generate the paperwork to change the classification markings, but that doesn’t mean the information wasn’t declassified,” Patel said, saying he was present with Trump when he said, “We are declassifying this information.”
“This story is just another disinformation campaign. … It’s yet another way to attack Trump and say he took classified information when he did not,” Patel argued.
Due to the redactions, it’s unknown how the FBI and DOJ addressed these arguments, but it appears they rejected them.
President Joe Biden himself scoffed at Trump’s legal defense when talking to reporters on Friday, saying, “I just want you to know I’ve declassified everything in the world. I’m president, I can do — c’mon.”
Trump had called for the affidavit to be released in full.
“Affidavit heavily redacted!!!” Trump said on his Truth Social account Friday afternoon. “Nothing mentioned on ‘Nuclear,’ a total public relations subterfuge by the FBI & DOJ, or our close working relationship regarding document turnover — WE GAVE THEM MUCH. Judge Bruce Reinhart should NEVER have allowed the Break-In of my home.”
Trump’s nuclear mention is in reference to a Washington Post article that reported that “classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items FBI agents sought” in the raid.
Trump immediately denied that, saying the “nuclear weapons issue is a hoax.”
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Federal investigators have said the items seized at Mar-a-Lago by the FBI earlier this month included “various classified/[top secret]/[sensitive compartmented information] documents,” among other records.
Trump has contended he had a “standing order” throughout his presidency that “documents removed from the Oval Office and taken to the residence were deemed to be declassified the moment he removed them.” Several former Trump administration officials have cast doubt on that notion.
