FBI searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence for classified nuclear documents: report

The FBI sought to locate classified documents related to nuclear weapons, among other items, when agents searched former US President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, this week, people familiar with the investigation told The Washington Post.

The people did not offer additional details to the Post about what the agents were seeking or whether any documents were recovered.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said that he "personally approved" the decision to seek a warrant for the search of Trump's Florida home.

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"The department does not take such a decision lightly. Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken," Garland said in a news conference.

The FBI search at Mar-a-Lago this week came months after federal investigators served an earlier grand jury subpoena and took away sensitive national security documents from former president's property during a June meeting, people familiar with the matter told CNN.

Investigators executed Monday's search in part because they had developed evidence, including from at least one witness, that there were potentially classified documents still remaining at the Palm Beach, Florida, property, a person briefed on the matter said.

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The National Archives arranged for the retrieval of 15 boxes of documents that included classified information in January, they said.

Authorities also believed the documents remaining at Mar-a-Lago had national security implications, CNN reported earlier this week.

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The subpoena issued before the June meeting, during which investigators were shown where documents were held in a basement room at the Trump residence and private club, shows how the investigation has escalated and suggests the discussions had become confrontational long before Monday's search.

The criminal investigation started with concerns about missing documents raised by the National Archives, which made a criminal referral to the Justice Department.

That led to FBI interviews with aides to grand jury subpoenas to this week's court-authorised search and seizure of documents.

Trump and his lawyers have sought to present their interactions with Justice Department prosecutors as cooperative, and that the search came as a shock. The subpoena was first reported by Just the News.