Top Senator Demands ‘Briefing’ on Trump Mar-a-Lago Documents

Jack PhillipsSeptember 11, 2022

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said Sunday that the Senate Intelligence Committee, which he chairs, needs to obtain a briefing on the documents taken from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

“If some of these documents involved human intelligence, and that information got out, people will die,” Warner claimed in an interview with “Face the Nation” on CBS, claiming that “if there’s intelligence that has been shared with us by allies, and that is mishandled, all of that could be in jeopardy.”

Neither the Department of Justice (DOJ) nor the FBI has elaborated on what documents were taken during the Aug. 8 raid. Prosecutors with the DOJ, in a heavily redacted affidavit that was unsealed last month, wrote there was “probable cause” to believe that allegedly classified materials remained at Mar-a-Lago and included a photo that purported to show “TOP SECRET” documents strewn about the floor of Trump’s home.

In social media posts, Trump said the “TOP SECRET” documents that appeared in a released photo may have been planted. The former commander-in-chief also indicated that the seized documents may have been declassified when he was still president, pointing to a memorandum he issued declassifying some FBI Crossfire Hurricane material.

“Now, we don’t know what’s in those documents,” Warner conceded, adding that “it is essential that the intelligence committee leadership at least gets a briefing of the damage assessment.”

Special Master

Among other items, Trump said FBI agents took personal records, medical records, tax files, and even his passports during the raid. The former president, who also previously accused the bureau of searching former First Lady Melania Trump’s closet and clothing, said officials within the DOJ have leaked information to the mainstream media about the case.

A Florida judge, Aileen Cannon, last week sided with Trump’s lawyers last week and ordered the appointment