Donald Trump is under fire for allegedly leaking the entire unredacted warrant and “endangering” FBI agents who searched his Mar-a-Lago home as part of an investigation into the removal of official records from the White House.
A judge unsealed a redacted version of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant documents, which show the Justice Department recovered 11 sets of classified documents, including some marked with the highest levels of classification.
“The disgusting, vile, deranged former POTUS just leaked the entire warrant,” a viral tweet by user ‘Spiro Agnew’s Ghost’ claimed. “The one his lawyers said he didn’t have with the FBI agents’ names unredacted, so he could purposefully endanger them.” However, the handle did not offer proof that Mr Trump was behind the leak.
Meanwhile, Breitbart faced flak for publishing a leaked version of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant that included the names of an FBI special agent and supervisor agent, with users claiming Mr Trump himself leaked the document to the right-wing organisation.
A law enforcement source told CNN that the FBI is investigating an “unprecedented” number of threats against bureau personnel and property in the wake of the Mar-a-Lago search, including some against agents listed in court records as being involved in the recent search.
On Friday, the names of the two agents who signed the search warrant paperwork circulated online.
The names had reportedly been included in a version of the search warrant that was leaked prior to the official unsealing of the documents as the version released by the court redacted the names.
This week, some violent threats against attorney general Merrick Garland surfaced online.
The threats state that Mr Garland “personally approved” the decision to seek a warrant of the search.
Furthermore, the biography and contact information of the federal magistrate judge who signed the search warrant was also wiped from a Florida court’s website after he too became the target of violent threats, according to CNN.
Mr Trump denied reports that he had documents related to nuclear weapons at his home and accused the FBI of “planting information.”
Mr Trump lashed out on his media platform Truth Social in response to a report from The Washington Post published Thursday evening that claimed the FBI agents were looking for documents relating to nuclear weapons.
Mr Trump compared the report to the investigation into Russia interfering with the 2016 presidential election and the special counsel investigation by Robert Mueller.
“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 said. “Same sleazy people involved.”
The former president also asked why the FBI would not allow inspection of Mar-a-Lago with his lawyers present.
“Made them wait outside in the heat, wouldn’t let them even close-said “ABSOLUTELY NOT,’” he said. “Planting information anyone?”
According to a copy of the warrant and inventory of documents recovered from Mr Trump’s property which was obtained by The Independent, agents recovered from the ex-president a set of papers bearing markings identifying them as Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information – a level of classification above the top secret level which is often applied to intelligence sources as well as the US nuclear arsenal.