Documents seized at Trump residence related to Iran, China: WP

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Washington Post
22 Oct 2022 00:20

Anonymous sources say some documents seized by the FBI from Trump's Florida residence contained information about Iran's missile program and intelligence about China.

Former US President Donald Trump

The Washington Post reported on Friday that the documents seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from the Florida residence of former US President Donald Trump contained information about Iran and China.

The newspaper cited anonymous sources as saying that some of the materials included sensitive intelligence about Iran and China, specifying that at least one secret document concerned Iran's missile program and a number of other documents contained intelligence about China.

According to The Washington Post report, the disclosure of information contained in the documents could potentially pose a number of potential problems - from exposing US intelligence agents to information-gathering methods, as well as the potential threat of retaliation by other countries.

In August, Trump sued the US Justice Department after the FBI searched his Florida residence, where investigators seized several dozen boxes with about 11,000 documents.

The Trump team also asked Judge Aileen Cannon to appoint a special master to review the seized materials for any privileged documents and prohibit Justice Department investigators from using the materials in their probe until they were reviewed.

The former US President claimed that he declassified all the documents that he took to his residence in Florida upon leaving the White House.

As a result, Cannon appointed senior US district judge Raymond Dearie, who is experienced in handling US national security matters, as an independent arbiter to vet records that have been seized by the FBI upon raiding former Trump's Florida mansion. Dearie was one of two candidates who were suggested by Trump.

Cannon also rejected the Justice Department's demand that prosecutors be allowed to review the documents while the legal war is still in effect, rejecting its argument that the probe into the documents is urgent due to their sensitive nature.

In response, the Justice Department officially challenged the decision, citing national security concerns, saying that doing so would obstruct and delay its investigation into Trump's handling of classified documents.