In an article published early August 12, Washington Post reporters Devlin Barrett, Josh Dawsey, and Shane Harris claimed that anonymous sources familiar with the investigation into former President Donald Trump told them that among the items FBI agents hoped to find in their raid of Mar-a-Lago were “classified documents relating to nuclear weapons.”
The anonymous sources cited in the piece did not provide any detail as to the nature of the information, including whether the supposed nuclear documents pertained to American capabilities and weapons or to those of other nations. The sources also did not disclose whether any such documents were discovered in the August 8 raid.
Neither the Department of Justice (DOJ) nor the FBI have commented on these allegations, advanced in part by Devlin Barrett, who was a member of the team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for coverage of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Trump responded to the allegations, claiming that the “nuclear weapons issue is a Hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a hoax, two Impeachments were a Hoax, the Mueller investigation was a hoax, and much more.” He also said that “some sleazy people are involved” and questioned why the FBI allegedly refused to permit his lawyers and others to be present during the raid: “Planting information anyone?”
Writer Miranda Devine and others took to Twitter to lambaste those speculating about what else may have been found in Trump’s possession.
While former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani noted that the “Biden Secret Police” could apparently wait a weekend before searching for the alleged classified nuclear information, commentator Lisa Boothe pointed out that the DOJ had in fact waited over a year-and-a-half to do so.
Despite the suggestion that the documents sought by the DOJ had something to do with nuclear intelligence, others have suggested that they may instead pertain to alleged efforts to “disrupt the electoral vote count on January 6.”
Some light may soon be shed on the nature of the documents sought by the FBI, given the requests by both Trump and Attorney General Merrick Garland to release the search warrant, which the latter has admitted to having personally approved in the first place.
Garland indicated on Thursday that the DOJ asked a federal court in Florida to unseal the search warrant, which was issued on August 5 by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart and used by the FBI for its raid.
Later on August 11, Trump similarly called for the release of the documents. He wrote on TruthSocial: “Not only will I not oppose the release of documents related to the unAmerican, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago, I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents.”
The former president added that the documents have “been drawn up by radical left Democrats and possible future political opponents,” once again insinuating his intention to run in the 2024 presidential election.