US intelligence to evaluate security risks of Mar-a-Lago documents

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The Director of the US National Intelligence, Avril Haines, told lawmakers in a letter sent Friday that intelligence officials plan to evaluate the natural security risks of the top secret documents obtained at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, Axios reported.

On Friday, the US Department of Justice released a redacted version of the affidavit that led to the FBI's raid on Trump's residence on August 8.

The unsealed document revealed that the boxes obtained at Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago had a mix of confidential, secret, and top secret documents.

According to Politico, Haines said in a letter to House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney and House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff that her office plans to investigate "the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents."

"The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) are working together to facilitate a classification review of relevant materials, including those recovered during the search," Haines wrote in her letter, reported Politico.

The Director of National Intelligence mentioned in the letter that the investigation will "not unduly interfere with DOJ’s ongoing criminal investigation."

In a statement sent to Axios, Maloney and Schiff indicated that "We are pleased that in response to our inquiry, Director Haines has confirmed that the Intelligence Community and Department of Justice are assessing the damage caused by the improper storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago."

"The DOJ affidavit, partially unsealed yesterday, affirms our grave concern that among the documents stored at Mar-a-Lago were those that could endanger human sources. It is critical that the IC move swiftly to assess and, if necessary, to mitigate the damage done — a process that should proceed in parallel with DOJ’s criminal investigation,” said Maloney and Schiff.

And the list goes on… #Trump pic.twitter.com/1NdUthK3Dd

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) August 11, 2022

The affidavit released on Friday revealed the contents of 14 of the 15 boxes recovered by the National Archives and Record Administration in January.

According to Axios, "The boxes contained 184 documents, 67 of which were confidential, 92 marked as secret, and 25 marked as top secret."

The US Department of Justice pointed out in the affidavit that "there is probable cause to believe that additional documents that contain classified NDI [national defense information] or that are Presidential records subject to record retention requirements currently remain at the PREMISES."

Trump sues FBI over Mar-a-Lago raid

It is noteworthy that Trump is taking the US government to court over the FBI's raid and search of his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Trump aims to initiate this bid to stop the federal agency from delving into the material seized from him until a special court official can be appointed to review the documents in question.

"The suit argues that the court should appoint a special master – usually a retired lawyer or judge – because the FBI potentially seized privileged materials in its search and the Department of Justice (DoJ) should not itself decide what it can use in its investigation," Trump's lead attorney told The Guardian on Saturday regarding the suit issued on Monday.

Trump is facing a criminal investigation over potential violations of the Espionage Act and additional statutes relating to obstruction of justice, as well as the destruction of federal government records, according to the search warrant executed by FBI agents at the former President's home.

The violation of the Espionage Act has a possible punishment of 10 years in federal prison, the statute for obstruction carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, and the statute for the destruction of records carries a potential lifetime ban on holding public office.