House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff expressed confidence Sunday that members of Congress will be briefed by the intelligence community about any potential national security risks posed by the classified documents retrieved by the FBI from former President Trump’s South Florida home.
The California Democrat said he expects to receive the information as part of a routine damage assessment from the director of national intelligence that falls under the panel’s jurisdiction but that his request for details has not yet been answered.
“I’m confident we will get one and I’m confident the intelligence community will do a damage assessment that is, I think, fairly routine when there has been the potential risk of disclosure of national security information or classified information,” Mr. Schiff said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “What is, to me, most disturbing here is the degree to which… it appears to be willful, on [Trump’s] part, the keeping of these documents after the government was requesting them back. That adds another layer of concern.”
After serving a search warrant, which has been unsealed, last week on Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, FBI agents retrieved 11 sets of highly classified materials that the former president’s lawyers’ previously reportedly said were not in their possession. The Department of Justice is investigating Mr. Trump for potential violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice and the removal or destruction of records.
The unprecedented search of a former president’s private residence ignited a political firestorm in Washington, with Democrats demanding to know what sensitive information Mr. Trump was holding and Republicans accusing the Biden administration of “weaponizing” the DOJ against a political foe and calling for the FBI to be defunded.
The Washington Post has reported that among the seized documents was information relating to nuclear weapons programs.
On his social media platform Truth Social, Mr. Trump has blasted the “raid” as a “hoax and scam” and denied any wrongdoing.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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