Friday’s printed affidavit from Judge Bruce Reinhart showed National Defense Information (NDI) was stored in drawers at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
The FBI wrote in a 32-page redacted affidavit that includes partially and fully obscured pages that there is “probable cause” and “evidence of impediment” regarding the discovery of 184 classified documents found in 14 of 15 drawers.
According to 10 U.S. Code § 8720, NDI refers to defense, industrial, and military energy requirements for national security, welfare, and economic emergencies in connection with foreign military or economic activities.
Former U.S. Attorney and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman tweeted that documents revealing such classified information “could literally kill people and expose sources and methods”—for example, putting human intelligence sources at risk.
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Among the 184 classified documents, 67 were marked as confidential, 92 as “secret” and 25 as “top secret”.
“In addition, there is reason to believe that additional documents containing the secret NDI, [National Defense Information] or which are presidential records that are subject to record retention requirements currently remain on the PREMISES [Mar-a-Lago]”said affidavit. “There is also likely reason to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found on the ROOM.
“There is probable reason to believe that the places to be searched on the PREMISES contain evidence, contraband, crimes, or other items illegally seized in violation of 18 USC §§ 793(e), 1519, or 2071.”
Under the U.S. Code, 18 U.S.C. § 793 refers to the collection, transfer, or loss of defense information and includes copies, sketches, photographs, sketches, drawings, plans, maps, documents, letters, or notes of “anything related to national defense . “
A footnote on page 22 of the affidavit states that “18 USC § 793(e) does not use the term “classified information”, but rather criminalizes the illegal possession of “information relating to national defense”, adding that “information publicly available to the government as well as information never protected by the government is not national defense information.”
According to the affidavit, the FBI found newspapers, magazines, printed news articles, photographs, various printouts, notes, presidential correspondence, personal and post-presidential notes, and “many classified documents” in 15 boxes in Mar-a-Lago. records.”
“The most significant concern was that highly classified recordings were deployed, mixed with other recordings, and otherwise inappropriately [sic] identified,” the statement said.
Former FBI counterintelligence agent Asha Rangappa tweeted on Friday regarding the intelligence cited in the affidavit and Trump’s “special intelligence.”
“The scale of what has been compromised in our intelligence gathering capabilities will be staggering,” she said.