FBI Searches Mar-a-Lago for Classified Documents

The Search

On August 8, 2022, approximately 30 FBI agents arrived at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, to execute a search warrant authorized by a federal magistrate judge. The search was part of an investigation into Trump’s handling of presidential records and classified materials after leaving office. Over the course of the day, agents removed approximately 33 boxes and containers of documents from the property, including materials marked at the highest levels of classification.

What They Found

The materials seized by the FBI included documents marked as top secret, secret, and confidential, as well as materials classified under special access programs, some of the most restricted categories in the U.S. intelligence community. Court filings later revealed that agents found classified documents in Trump’s personal office, a storage room, and other locations throughout the club. Photographs released by the Justice Department showed documents with colored classification banners spread across the floor of a storage area at Mar-a-Lago. In total, the government recovered more than 300 classified documents from Trump after he left office, including during earlier voluntary returns and a response to a subpoena.

The Backstory

The search came after months of negotiations between Trump’s representatives and the National Archives, which had first retrieved 15 boxes of presidential records from Mar-a-Lago in January 2022. When officials discovered classified materials among those boxes, the matter was referred to the Justice Department. Prosecutors issued a subpoena for additional classified documents in May 2022, and Trump’s lawyers returned some materials while certifying that a “diligent search” had been conducted. The FBI’s subsequent investigation indicated that not all classified materials had been returned, leading to the search warrant.

Political Earthquake

The search of a former president’s home was unprecedented in American history and set off a political firestorm. Trump and his allies denounced the search as a weaponization of federal law enforcement, comparing it to the actions of authoritarian regimes. Attorney General Merrick Garland publicly confirmed he had personally approved the search warrant, citing the gravity of the situation. The investigation was later taken over by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who would eventually bring federal criminal charges against Trump for willful retention of national defense information and obstruction of justice.