Late today, the FBI search warrant that was executed on former President Trump’s Florida home was unsealed. The document shows that overall, the media reporting over the previous 48 hours was broadly accurate: the FBI hauled away literally boxes of material ranging in classification from Confidential to Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI). This is clearly material Trump should’ve turned over to the National Archives before he left office, per the Presidential Records Act.
Of note in Attachment B (property to be seized) of the warrant is this line:
“All physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 793, 2071, or 1519…”
That first U.S. Code reference is to a portion of the WWI era Espionage Act. Let that one sink in for a moment.
The second citation involves “unlawful access to stored communications,” and the third involves the destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations.
Given the reports that the FBI visited Trump’s Florida residence in June for a similar purpose, this latest search and seizure has me wondering whether there will be a superseding indictment down the line charging the former chief executive with making false statements to the FBI.
In any event, Trump’s purloining of—and likely destruction of—records that are the property of the American people have opened him up to potential criminal charges that no American president has ever faced. And with the House January 6 Select Committee scheduled to resume hearings in September, it’s likely these two investigations will now dominate the media cycle for months to come.
