Former US President Donald Trump said Monday the FBI seized three of his passports in the search and seizure operation at his home in MaraLago, Fla., on March 14.
Trump wrote a message on the social network Truth Social: “Wow. In the FBI operation in MaraLago, they stole my three passports (one of them expired) along with everything else. This is an attack on an opposing politician on a level unprecedented in our country. Third World.”
On that day, the FBI seized 11 sets of confidential documents, including four top secret and three classified documents.
Official documents show that Donald Trump is under investigation for espionage
In all, more than 30 items in more than 20 boxes were seized, folders with photos, a handwritten note and the executive branch’s clemency plea to Roger Stone, a Trump ally and longtime friend of the former president. Information about the “President of France” was also included in the list.
It was the Department of Justice (equivalent to the Department of Justice) that asked Judge Bruce Reinhart for a search warrant on the former President’s home. In filing the request, the department argued it had reason to believe Trump violated the Espionage Act.
Trump allies want to see justification
GOP politicians have called for the release of an FBI statement detailing the reasons for the document seizure.
Republicans are asking for the release of more detailed information that convinced a federal judge to issue the search warrant, which can identify sources of information and details about the nature of documents and other sensitive information. The release of such testimony would be highly unusual and would require the approval of a federal judge.
“I think the release of the testimony would help, at least confirm that there was justification for this search,” Republican Senator Mike Rounds told NBC’s Meet the Press program.
The Justice Department should “show that this wasn’t just a ‘fish’ expedition, that they had a reason to go in and do this, that they exhausted all other means,” Rounds said. “And if they can’t, then we have a serious problem.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.