Two documents with classified markings were found in a Florida storage unit during a search by a team hired by former President Donald Trump’s lawyers, a person familiar with the situation told CNN.
Those documents were handed over to the FBI. No other documents with classified markings were found during a search of four of Trump’s properties, the source said.
The discovery of the documents was first reported by The Washington Post.
The team of two searched Trump Tower in New York, the Bedminster golf club, an office location in Florida, and the storage unit where the two documents were found and where the General Services Administration had shipped Trump’s belongings after he left the White House.
The four searches came amid lingering concerns from the Justice Department that not all documents had been returned to the federal government. Carried out in recent weeks, the searches were overseen by Trump’s legal team, another source familiar with the matter told CNN.
Trump’s attorneys offered to let federal investigators observe the search at his Bedminster property, but that offer was declined. Given the Justice Department’s response, Trump lawyers did not make a similar offer for the search of the other properties.
It would be highly unusual for the Justice Department to observe searches that aren’t conducted by law enforcement. The department declined to comment. Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, said the former president and his counsel “continue to be cooperative and transparent.”
It is unclear what the subsequent contact between the Trump legal team and federal investigators has been since the searches.
CNN previously reported exclusively that Trump’s legal team was considering allowing federal agents to search Mar-a-Lago again to satisfy Justice demands that all sensitive government documents were returned. The matter was addressed in a court proceeding this fall where the Justice Department asked a judge to issue an order compelling the Trump team to arrange for another search.
This story and headline have been updated with additional information Wednesday.
