Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, addressed the release of the partially blacked-out version of the Trump affidavit from Friday, which provided the basis for the FBI's Aug. 8 raid on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
"It appears, based on the affidavit unsealed this morning, that among the improperly handled documents at Mar-a-Lago were some of our most sensitive intelligence — which is one reason the Senate Intelligence Committee has requested, on a bipartisan bias, a damage assessment of any national security threat posed by the mishandling of this information," Warner wrote on Friday.
The Virginia senator added: "The Department of Justice investigation must be allowed to proceed without interference."
As Newsmax chronicled Friday, the DOJ's 32-page affidavit revealed that 14 of the 15 boxes recovered from Trump's Mar-a-Lago home contained documents with classification markings, including some the "top secret" level.
"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," an unnamed FBI agent wrote on the affidavit, upon seeking U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart's warrant permission to search Mar-a-Lago.
On Aug. 14, Tom Fitton — the president of Judicial Watch, a think tank that investigates government corruption — told Newsmax the Espionage Act is an "elastic" law and thus difficult for government officials to prove in court against everyday American citizens, let alone former presidents.
"The question of whether Trump's materials [taken during the FBI's raid of the Mar-a-Lago resort] were still deemed as 'classified' is still in significant legal dispute," says Fitton, while appearing on "Wake Up America" with co-hosts Carl Higbie and Christina Thompson. "They're presumed to be his records."
The redacted affidavit included no new details about the 11 sets of classified records recovered during the Aug. 8 raid on Mar-a-Lago.
Instead, it referenced the separate batch of 15 boxes the National Archives and Records Administration retrieved from Trump's Florida home in January.
Through the TruthSocial app, Trump offered this Friday response to the affidavit's release:
"Affidavit heavily redacted!!! 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. He recused himself two months ago from one of my cases based on his animosity and hatred of your favorite President, me.
"What changed? Why hasn’t he recused himself on this case? Obama must be very proud of him right now!"
A follow-up post from Trump contained just two words: "WITCH HUNT!!!"
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