Two House investigators requested a review and damage assessment of the boxes full of highly classified information seized by the FBI in a raid at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Reps. Adam Schiff, who chairs the Intelligence Committee, and Carolyn Maloney, who chairs the Oversight Committee, asked for an immediate review of the matter in a letter to National Intelligence Director Avril Haines, citing national security risks.
“Former President Trump’s conduct has potentially put our national security at grave risk,” the lawmakers wrote. “This issue demands a full review, in addition to the ongoing law enforcement inquiry.”
The request marks the first step Congress is taking to engage with oversight efforts, following the Mar-a-Lago raid.
Mr. Schiff and Ms. Maloney’s ask would require the DNI’s office to look at any potential national security harm caused by Mr. Trump’s handling of the documents in question.
Mr. Trump’s home was raided by the FBI over an investigation that the former president may have violated the Espionage Act or engaged in obstruction of justice. Attorney General Merrick Garland said he had made the request of the FBI on the search.
One receipt that accompanied the search warrant on Mr. Trump’s home showed he had documents marked “TS/SCI,” which is one of the highest levels of government classification.
On his social media site TruthSocial, Mr. Trump slammed the FBI for raiding his home and alleged former President Barack Obama had millions of pages of classified documents pertaining to nuclear weapons.
Mr. Obama’s documents are currently held by the National Archives and Records Administration, and will eventually land in his presidential library.
Mr. Trump said all the documents he had in his own possession were declassified.
“Number one, it was all declassified. Number two, they didn’t need to ‘seize’ anything. They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago,” Mr. Trump said. “It was in secured storage, with an additional lock put on as per their request.”