A federal judge unsealed a more detailed inventory of what the FBI seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence on Friday, revealing that some items taken were “empty folders” with classification markings.
Judge Aileen Cannon ordered the release on Thursday, and is weighing Trump’s request for a third party watchdog to review the materials, which would pause the government assessment.
The unsealed list of property inventory shows that hundreds of articles of “magazine/newspapers/press articles and other printed media” were taken from the residence, along with several hundreds U.S. government documents, some with and some without classification markings.
The list reveals that the FBI took 71 empty folders from Trump’s office ,with markings including “CLASSIFIED” and “Return to Staff Secretary/Military Aide.” Books and several items labeled “article of clothing/ gift” were also taken.
A Tuesday court filing from the Justice Department showed that investigators suspected Trump and his associates had hidden classified materials throughout the property, despite claiming to have returned such materials to the government.
Cannon’s release shows that classified materials were seized from both Trump’s office and a storage room.
Justice Department lawyers argued with Trump’s attorneys over whether a third-party special master should be appointed to review the materials on Thursday.
For the government, Jay Bratt claimed that the appointment of a special master would inhibit the ongoing investigation and hinted that appointing one could potentially give Trump access to the documents again, according to ABC News.
Trump lawyer Christopher Kise argued that Trump had the right to take the classified documents, given that he was the president, and told the judge that “we need respectfully to lower the temperature of both sides. We need to take a deep breath.”
Brett shot back that Trump “is no longer the president and because he was no longer the president he did not have the right to take those documents.”
The documents “aren’t his,” said Bratt.