Trump calls for return of privileged documents seized by FBI from his home

Former US President Donald Trump has called on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to return documents reportedly seized from his Florida home that are protected by attorney-client and executive privileges.

A report in The Washington Post, citing informed sources and experts, said on Thursday the search underscores the concern among government officials about the types of information located at Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach club where Trump lives, and the danger of it falling into wrong hands.

The unprecedented search included the seizure of 11 sets of classified documents as part of the agency’s investigation into whether Trump violated the Espionage Act and other federal statutes.

“Oh great!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.

“It has just been learned that the FBI, in its now famous raid of Mar-a-Lago, took boxes of privileged ‘attorney-client’ material, and also ‘executive’ privileged material, which they knowingly should not have taken,” Trump continued.

“By copy of this TRUTH, I respectfully request that these documents be immediately returned to the location from which they were taken,” he added. “Thank you!”

Media reports on Saturday evening said that the FBI seized five boxes that included information covered by attorney-client privilege during a search at Trump’s house. The reports also said some records could be covered by executive privilege.

Trump has said that the “nuclear weapons issue is a hoax” in response to the Washington Post report that FBI agents sought nuclear documents in a search of his Florida home on Monday.

Trump said on Friday on his Truth Social startup social media platform that the “nuclear weapons issue is a hoax” equating it to controversies involving Russia, his two impeachments and the Mueller investigation.

“Same sleazy people involved,” he said.

American judicial officials have said that more details of this investigation will be made available to the public in the coming days.

Media reports suggest the FBI’s action is part of a US Justice Department investigation into Trump’s removal of official records to his Florida estate while leaving the White House following the end of his presidential term early last year.