FBI sought national defense documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, affidavit shows

Extensively redacted affidavit used to justify the search of the ex-president's Florida resort was unsealed on Friday

The FBI believed there was probable cause that highly sensitive national defense documents were scattered across Donald Trump's resort in Florida as well as evidence of obstruction of justice, according to a partially redacted affidavit used to justify the search of the former president's property unsealed on Friday.

The affidavit - partially redacted by the justice department to protect details about the criminal investigation into Trump's unauthorized retention of government secrets - indicated the FBI had good cause to seek and execute a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago.

There is probable cause to believe that additional documents that contain classified NDI or that are Presidential records subject to record retention requirements currently remain at the PREMISES. There is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found," it said.

According to the redacted affidavit, the FBI sought to retrieve national defense information across several rooms at Trump's resort, including his home, the foyer to his residence known as Pine Hall, his office, as well as a storage area, among other locations.