US officials to assess risks from seized Mar-a-Lago documents

WASHINGTON • US intelligence officials will conduct a review to assess the possible risks to national security from former president Donald Trump's handling of classified documents after the FBI retrieved boxes containing sensitive material from Mar-a-Lago, according to a letter to lawmakers.

In the letter, Ms Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, informed the top lawmakers on the House Intelligence and Oversight Committees that her office would lead an intelligence community assessment of the "potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure" of documents Mr Trump took with him to his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida.

In the letter, which was obtained by The New York Times, Haines said her office would work with the Justice Department to ensure that the assessment did not interfere with the department's criminal investigation concerning the documents. The review will determine what intelligence sources or systems could be identified from the documents and be compromised if they fell into the wrong hands.

Ms Haines' letter, dated last Friday, was reported earlier by Politico. It came after the leaders of the Intelligence and Oversight Committees asked her on Aug 13 to conduct an "immediate review and damage assessment" in the wake of the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago, during which federal agents recovered 11 sets of classified documents. The Senate Intelligence Committee also asked for a damage assessment, according to the panel's chair, Democratic Senator Mark Warner, who said the request had been bipartisan.

Last Friday, the Justice Department released a redacted version of the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant for Mar-a-Lago. That document included the revelation that Mr Trump had retained highly classified material after leaving office, including documents related to the use of "clandestine human sources" in intelligence gathering.

Democratic Representatives Adam Schiff, the chair of the Intelligence Committee, and Carolyn Maloney, the chair of the Oversight Committee, issued an approving statement in response to Ms Haines' letter.

"The DOJ affidavit, partially unsealed yesterday, affirms our grave concern that among the documents stored at Mar-a-Lago were those that could endanger human sources," the lawmakers said in their statement.

Meanwhile, a US judge on Saturday said it was her "preliminary intent" to grant Mr Trump's request to appoint a special master to oversee a review of materials seized on Aug 8 from his Florida home during an FBI raid. US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated by Mr Trump in 2020, on Saturday also directed the Justice Department to submit under seal more details "specifying all property seized pursuant to the search warrant".

Mr Trump had also demanded the Justice Department provide him a more detailed property receipt outlining items the FBI seized from his Mar-a-Lago home during its Aug 8 search, and asked investigators to return any items outside the scope of the search warrant.

Judge Cannon gave the government until tomorrow to file a response to Mr Trump's request for a special master and set a hearing for Thursday. Her order said she had not made a final determination on Mr Trump's request.

A special master can sometimes be appointed in highly sensitive cases to go through seized materials and ensure that investigators do not review privileged information.

Mr Trump has described the court-approved search at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach as politically motivated.

NYTIMES, REUTERS