Some of the documents retrieved from Mar-a-Lago during the search earlier this month was so secret that even the FBI agents and attorneys reviewing them needed additional clearance, according to the Department of Justice.
The DOJ was responding to Donald Trump’s request for a federal judge to appoint a ‘special master’ to review the records seized at his Florida residence during the Aug. 8 search.
In the filing the DOJ argued that the appointment of a special master “is unnecessary and would significantly harm important governmental interests, including national security interests.”
“In some instances, even the FBI counterintelligence personnel and DOJ attorneys conducting the review required additional clearances before they were permitted to review certain documents,” the DOJ said.
In the filing on Tuesday was a photo of some classified records recovered during the search. They include cover sheets with the markings “SECRET//SCI” and “TOP SECRET//SCI” and the message “Contains sensitive compartmented information up to HCS-P/SI/TK.”
The documents were next to a container with a framed Time magazine cover.
Department of Justice
“Evidence of commingling personal effects with documents bearing classification markings is relevant evidence of the statutory offenses under investigation,” the DOJ said.
In a post on his social media app, Truth Social, on Wednesday Trump claims he declassified the documents that were seen in the photo.
“Terrible the way the FBI, during the Raid of Mar-a-Lago, threw documents haphazardly all over the floor (perhaps pretending it was me that did it!), and then started taking pictures of them for the public to see,” Trump wrote. “Thought they wanted them kept Secret? Lucky I Declassified!”
Trump’s team has until 8 p.m. Wednesday to file their response.
