Congressional Research Service Explanation of the Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant

This is a follow-up to the August 16, 2022 blog post Congressional Research Reports on Protection of Classified Information about the seizure by the F.B.I. of top secret files at the Florida residence of former U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Congressional Research Service in Washington, D.C. has published what it calls a Legal Sidebar on The Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant: A Legal Introduction:

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently executed a search warrant at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida (...) The warrant authorized government officials to seize all 'documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed in violation' of three federal statutes ... In addition to the warrant itself and its attachments, the court unsealed other material related to the search, including the cover sheet to the warrant application and an inventory of property seized. Proceedings are underway to unseal a redacted version of the affidavit supporting the warrant, and former President Trump filed a motion asking the court, among other things, to appoint a special master to oversee the government’s handling of the seized material."

"This Sidebar describes the process for and implications of obtaining a search warrant. It then examines the criminal offenses identified in the Mar-a-Lago warrant. Finally, this Sidebar analyzes presidential authority to declassify documents and the role of declassification for the crimes at issue."