Trump Search Puts FBI in Jam Between Secrecy and Calls for Public Scrutiny

Demand for proof to justify search confronts law enforcement
DOJ, FBI examining records for crimes, national security risks

US Secret Service and Mar-a-Lago security members at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach on Aug. 9.
Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg

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By Chris Strohm and Benjamin Penn

August 22, 2022 at 12:00 PM UTC

Updated on

August 22, 2022 at 1:54 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The FBI is combing through boxes of classified records seized at Mar-a-Lago, a monthslong process that may leave the government with a disappointing response to public calls for proof that searching a former president’s home was justified: Take our word for it.

The intensive operation by the Justice Department, its Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies to determine if criminal laws were broken or national security was damaged is complicated. Some items removed from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate are classified as top secret, meaning their public release may jeopardize US interests. But if a prosecution goes forward, Trump may press the courts to reveal some of the material.