A foreign government’s nuclear secrets were reportedly found by FBI agents that raided Donald Trump’s home in Florida.
A document describing the country’s military defences, including its nuclear capabilities, was among files discovered during the raid last month of the former president’s Mar-a-Lago country club estate, according to a bombshell report in the Washington Post.
The report said that the documents were so sensitive, that only a few dozen national security officials knew of their existence.
It did not indicate whether the foreign government was friendly or hostile to the United States. An FBI spokesperson declined to comment on the report.
Trump representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment but the former president has previously denied any wrongdoing over his handling of classified records.
The US Justice Department is investigating whether Mr Trump improperly handled records by taking them from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left office in January 2021. US presidents must transfer all of their documents and emails to the National Archives.
The FBI recovered more than 11,000 government documents and photographs during the August 8 search, according to court records.
Some of the seized documents detailed top secret US operations that require special clearances, not just top-secret clearance, the Post reported.
It reported some of the documents are so restricted that even some of the Biden administration’s senior-most national security officials were not authorized to review them.
An inventory released last week of the contents of 33 boxes recovered from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate said FBI agents found dozens of empty folders marked as classified during its search.
It also shows top secret files were recovered from his personal office.
On Monday, a federal judge agreed to Trump’s request to appoint a “special master” to review records seized in the FBI search, a move that is likely to delay the Justice Department’s criminal investigation.
That is because the judge has banned the government from reviewing or using the seized materials for its investigation until the special master’s independent review has been completed.
