FBI raided Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago resort 'to look for nuclear documents'
Topics: US News, News, Donald Trump
Rachel Lang
Featured Image Credit: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy. UPI/Alamy.
Topics: US News, News, Donald Trump
Classified documents regarding nuclear weapons were reportedly among the items the FBI was hunting for when they searched former US President Donald Trump's Florida estate.
The Washington Post reports that people familiar with the investigation confirmed the hunt for nuclear weapons-related files.
According to The Post: "Experts in classified information said the unusual search underscores deep concern among government officials about the types of information they thought could be located at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club and potentially in danger of falling into the wrong hands."
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United States Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed he personally signed off on asking a judge to approve the warrant, but declined to discuss the raid any further, The Post reported.
Other sources close to the organisation spoke to the Post on the condition of anonymity.
The sources did not provide any additional detail as to what other information federal agents were seeking during the raid.
They also did not expand on whether the nuclear weapons documents were about the United States or other nations.
The sources also did not confirm if the nuclear documents were recovered as part of the search.
Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate was raided on Monday (August 8), with the former US leader writing on social media that he wasn't at all pleased at all by the unexpected visit from the feds.
He said in a statement: "After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate."
ABC News reported that The Justice Department has been investigating allegations that 'boxes of records containing classified information' were taken to the Mar-a-Lago estate after Trump's tenure as the US President ended in early 2021.
The National Archives and Records Administration reportedly flagged the issue with The Justice Department.
They alleged there were 15 boxes in Trump's Florida residence and they contained classified material.
It's not clear whether the raid was related to this issue.
Trump's team has since suggested that incriminating evidence may have been planted during the search, however there is no evidence to support this claim.
Two days following the raid, cameras caught a small yellow plane flying over the 45th American President's Palm Beach residence with a banner towed behind it that read: "HA HA HA HA HA HA."
The 31-year-old Democrat activist behind the message, Thomas Kennedy, revealed that the message was for Trump and his supporters, who have been gathering outside the former US President's home.
"We thought it would be funny," he said, as per USA Today.
"From our perspective, Trump is a bully and we wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine."