White House officials express (private) concern over classified information Trump brought to Mar-a-Lago

Documents justifying Mar-a-Lago search could be released 2:25 (CNN) — White House officials have privately expressed deep concern about classified material brought to former President Donald Trump’s Florida home, including some documents that should only be seen in secure government facilities, CNN has learned. As more information has emerged in the days since FBI agents searched the former president’s private residence, current administration officials have grown increasingly concerned about what Trump took. And also in case that information — some of it in a basement-level storage facility at Mar-a-Lago — could potentially put the sources and methods of the US intelligence community at risk. “There is deep concern,” a senior government official told CNN. Intelligence officials have also raised concerns about what Trump may have taken, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. Intelligence community representatives have held discussions with the Justice Department, congressional intelligence committees and the National Archives in recent months about potentially missing sensitive documents, the source said. What does Biden know? White House officials have been mostly silent on the matter, insisting that it is up to the Justice Department to comment on the ongoing investigation. President Joe Biden has not been briefed on the criminal investigation, according to officials, and information about it has reached the West Wing through the media. Asked Wednesday whether Biden needs to be briefed on the national security implications, White House Secretary General Ron Klain insisted the president would keep his distance. “One of the reasons Joe Biden was elected president is that he promised that he would not meddle, as his predecessor did, in investigations being conducted by the Justice Department, that he would not politically interfere with the Justice Department enforcing our laws,” he told CNN’s Don Lemon. What did the FBI take from Trump’s Florida residence? 1:07 Not knowing exactly what the stolen Mar-a-Lago material contains, officials have internally raised concerns about whether it could hamper the nation’s spy agencies by compromising the ways officials gather intelligence . Possible diplomatic fallout has also been debated, including whether information found at Mar-a-Lago could spark tensions with allies. The classified documents FBI found at Mar-a-Lago The Justice Department removed 11 sets of classified documents from Trump’s home, according to documents unsealed by a judge last week. The inventory shows that some of the recovered materials were marked “top secret/SCI”, which is one of the highest levels of classification. The information that was recovered by the FBI included material on French President Emmanuel Macron, which has also raised concerns within the White House. The French embassy in Washington declined to say whether they had had any talks with the White House about the material. The White House also declined to comment on internal concerns about classified information brought to Mar-a-Lago. Biden, as president, has previously raised concerns about his handling of sensitive information by Trump. He took the unprecedented step early in his term to cut off Trump’s access to intelligence briefings, a courtesy previously extended to all former presidents. “What value is there in giving him (access to) an intelligence briefing?” Biden said in an interview with CBS News in February 2021. “What impact does he have, other than the fact that he might slip up and say something?” . Biden advisers have previously questioned whether Trump would reveal classified or sensitive information he obtained during his days as president in speeches or interviews.