Federal law enforcement officials allegedly responded to former President Donald Trump‘s claim Monday that they took his passports by saying that they did not take them.
“In the raid by the FBI of Mar-a-Lago, they stole my three Passports (one expired), along with everything else,” Trump said in a post on social media.
“According to a DOJ official, the FBI is NOT in possession of former President Trump’s passports,” CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell later tweeted. “We are also learning tonight that if any items not contained in the warrant were retrieved during the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago, they will be returned.”
However, shortly after O’Donnell posted her claim on social media, a spokesperson for Trump pushed back, publishing a screenshot of an alleged email from a top DOJ official that said that the passports were accidentally taken and were in the process of being returned.
Federal investigators recovered at least 4 sets of top secret documents, 3 sets of secret documents, and 3 sets of confidential documents during their search, which U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland authorized.
Multiple sources told The New York Times that at least one of Trump’s lawyers signed a written statement to the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this summer that claimed all classified material and boxes in a storage area on the property had been returned to the federal government. Agents searched the storage area and Trump’s office and residence on the property.
The signed declaration, combined with the at least 11 sets of classified documents that were discovered on the property, could mean that either Trump or his legal team potentially lied to federal investigators.
The sections of the U.S. criminal code that were cited on the search warrant indicate the investigation centers around potential violations of the Espionage Act, the unlawful taking of government records, and obstruction of justice related to destroying documents.
This report has been updated to include additional information.