Press Releases

Today, Rep. Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, sent a letter to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines requesting an immediate review and damage assessment following reports that former President Trump removed and retained highly classified information at his personal residence at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida in potential violation of the Presidential Records Act and laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act.

"Those entrusted with access to classified information have a duty and an obligation to protect it,” the Chairs wrote.  “Yet, a recently unsealed court-authorized search warrant and the inventory of property recovered at the Mar-a-Lago Club describe numerous classified documents held by former President Trump, including Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) material—among the most sensitive and highly protected information in the U.S. Government.  Former President Trump’s conduct has potentially put our national security at grave risk.  This issue demands a full review, in addition to the ongoing law enforcement inquiry.”

On Monday, August 8, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted a court-authorized search of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club and removed at least 27 boxes of materials.  The search followed months of reported back-and-forth between federal investigators and the former President regarding U.S. Government property that may have been improperly retained following the end of the Trump Administration, some of which was reportedly kept in a storage area at the Mar-a-Lago Club.

According to the search warrant and property log recently unsealed, the recovered materials span 45 categories, including 11 sets of classified documents ranging from “Confidential” to “Secret” to “Top Secret” and “TS/SCI documents.”   The unauthorized disclosure of Top Secret information would cause “exceptionally grave damage to the national security.”   

In light of this, the Chairs requested that Director Haines instruct the National Counterintelligence Executive, in consultation with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community and other Inspectors General as appropriate, to conduct a damage assessment.  The Chairs also requested a classified briefing on this assessment as soon as possible.

Click here to read today’s letter. 

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