Some of them are classified with the highest levels of secrecy, according to a letter to a Trump attorney that the archive published on Tuesday night. These are documents that were stored in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and were handed over in January.
The US media unanimously reported on the letter, which is dated May 10, on Tuesday, and the “New York Times” put it online. The letter went on to say that the government “must undertake an assessment of the potential harm resulting from the apparent manner in which these materials were stored and transported.” The now published exchange between the agency and Trump’s defense attorneys took place months before the FBI’s search of the ex-president’s property two weeks ago. In this case, other documents, some of which were classified as top secret, were secured.
Big stir
The search had caused a stir beyond the United States. Trump had argued that he had released the confiscated sets of documents from his presidency. Incumbent presidents do have far-reaching powers to lift secrecy. But for the release of documents there is a formal procedure with several highly official steps. Trump also claimed that there was a permanent corresponding instruction in place for all documents taken home.
Trump only filed a lawsuit against the government on Monday, demanding that a neutral examiner be used for the most recently confiscated documents and that all investigations be stopped until then. Trump’s taking of the documents could constitute a criminal act. The 76-year-old, however, describes the actions of the Ministry of Justice against him as politically motivated. For weeks he has been flirting with the idea of running for the presidency again in 2024.
Legal disputes are also currently ongoing as to whether at least some of the documents on which the search warrant for Mar-a-Lago was based could be made public. A Florida judge had ordered the Justice Department to make redaction proposals this week. Several media had requested the publication of the documents. However, the Justice Department had argued that this could affect future investigations and the cooperation of witnesses.
It is considered very unlikely that the entire documents will become public. In the end, extensive redactions could result in them becoming mostly unreadable.
Source: Nachrichten
