Former President Donald Trump departs Trump Tower, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, in New York, on his way to the New York attorney general’s office for a deposition in a civil investigation. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson) FBI raided Trump’s Florida residence to look for nuclear documents: Among other things, FBI agents sought classified documents pertaining to nuclear weapons during a raid on former US President Donald Trump’s Florida residence on Monday, according to a report. According to a Washington Post report citing informed sources and experts, the search highlights government officials’ concerns about the types of information stored at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Palm Beach club, and the risk of it falling into the wrong hands. According to the report, experts say that information about nuclear weapons is “especially sensitive and usually restricted to a small number of government officials,” and that disclosing it could “provide an intelligence roadmap to adversaries seeking to build ways of countering those systems.” “If that is true, it would imply that material residing unlawfully at Mar-a-Lago may have been classified at the highest classification level,” David Laufman, former head of the Justice Department’s counterintelligence section, which investigates classified information leaks, is quoted in the report as saying. “If the FBI and DOJ believed there were top secret materials still at Mar-a-Lago, that would lend itself to greater ‘hair-on-fire’ motivation to recover that material as soon as possible,” Laufman explained. American judicial officials have stated that more information about this investigation will be made public in the coming days. FBI searches Trump’s safe at Mar-a-Lago club, former president says https://t.co/dC64ihB0sI — The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 8, 2022 While filing a motion to unseal the search warrant, in this case, some lawyers stated that the public’s interest should be considered “There is a clear and powerful interest in understanding what happened under these circumstances, which weighs heavily in favour of opening.” According to media reports, the FBI’s action is part of a US Justice Department investigation into Trump‘s removal of official records to his Florida estate after his presidential term ended early last year. When the National Archives and Records Administration (Nara) was preparing to transfer records from the White House to the House select committee investigating the deadly January 6 riot, it reportedly discovered around 15 boxes taken to Mar-a-Lago. The records were later returned to Nara after negotiations with Trump’s lawyers, but it was later discovered that Trump had taken some classified and sensitive for national security documents with him. Trump confirmed on Monday that FBI agents “raided” his Mar-a-Lago estate in an act of “prosecutorial misconduct.” FBI raided Trump’s Florida residence to look for nuclear documents The former US president claimed that FBI agents “broke into his safe” at his Palm Beach home while he was in New York at Trump Tower. Many Republicans and Trump supporters were outraged by the FBI’s unprecedented search of Trump’s home on Monday. Many people on social media have threatened to hold the FBI accountable for this unprecedented investigation. US House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other Republican lawmakers condemned the raid, warning that if Republicans regain control of Congress, they will investigate the politicisation of the Justice Department. McCarthy stated on Monday night, “The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable level of weaponized politicisation.” “When Republicans retake the House, we will immediately take over this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned.” “Attorney General [Merrick] Garland, keep your documents safe and your calendar clear,” he added. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a statement on Thursday defending FBI agents as “dedicated, patriotic public servants,” saying he would not “stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked.” “Every day, they protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism, and other threats to their safety, all while protecting our civil liberties. They do so at great personal cost and danger to themselves. I am honoured to be working with them “In an unusual statement, he said Garland stated that the Justice Department had petitioned the court to have the search warrant and property receipt from the search unsealed. He also admitted to “personally authorising the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter.” “In light of the former president’s public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances, and the substantial public interest in this matter,” Garland said, “the Department filed the motion to make public the warrant and receipt.” “The rule of law is the foundational principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy. To uphold the rule of law, the law must be applied equally and without fear or favour. That is exactly what the Justice Department is doing under my watch.” Late Thursday, Trump demanded that the federal warrant used by the FBI to search his Florida estate be released “immediately.” “Not only will I not oppose the release of documents, but I am also encouraging the immediate release of those documents.” “On the Truth Social platform, he called the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago “unAmerican, unwarranted, and unnecessary.”