Intelligence Director To Review Mar-A-Lago Documents For Risk Assessment

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told top congressional leaders in a letter dated Friday that intelligence officials are working to assess the potential national security damage that former President Donald Trump might have caused by keeping top-secret government documents at his Mar-a-Lago golf resort.

A clearer picture of the situation came into focus after a federal judge unsealed a partially redacted version of the FBI s affidavit used to obtain a warrant to search the South Florida property earlier this month. The affidavit was made public Friday .

But many questions remain, such as the nature of the materials Trump was improperly storing, what impact they could have if leaked, and whether Trump will be personally charged with any crime. The court records made public so far suggest that human intelligence sources could be at risk.

Politico was the first to report on Haines letter . It came in response to an Aug. 13 request by House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), asking for an immediate review and damage assessment.

Heres the full letter from Haines to Maloney & Schiff, obtained by @politico https://t.co/holw58I5Wz pic.twitter.com/SlzDd4WE3y

Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) August 27, 2022","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Andrew Desiderio","author_url":"https://twitter.com/AndrewDesiderio","cache_age":86400,"description":"Heres the full letter from Haines to Maloney & Schiff, obtained by @politico https://t.co/holw58I5Wz pic.twitter.com/SlzDd4WE3y Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) August 27, 2022\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_hide_thread":{"label":"Hide previous Tweet in conversation thread","value":true},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":1312,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FbL6NrQacAAN2q8.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1092,"title":"Andrew Desiderio on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1563587168043696128","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"630a6d72e4b088f74234c4cf","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/intelligence-director-presidential-documents-risk-assessment_n_630a6d72e4b088f74234c4cf","entryTagsList":"donald-trump,department-of-justice,mar-a-lago","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/be709a82-942f-47b0-ae2a-b51aedd87685/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":4},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"630a6d72e4b088f74234c4cf","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"department of justice","slug":"department-of-justice","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/department-of-justice","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/department-of-justice","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/department-of-justice"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"United States Department of Justice","slug":"us-department-of-justice","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/us-department-of-justice"},{"name":"Mar-A-Lago","slug":"mar-a-lago","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/mar-a-lago","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/mar-a-lago","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/mar-a-lago"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/mar-a-lago"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

Heres the full letter from Haines to Maloney & Schiff, obtained by @politico https://t.co/holw58I5Wz pic.twitter.com/SlzDd4WE3y
Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) August 27, 2022

Haines office will lead an intelligence community assessment of the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents, her letter read.

Her team is is closely coordinat[ing] with the Department of Justice (DOJ), she wrote, to ensure the analysis is conducted in a manner that does not unduly interfere with DOJs ongoing criminal investigation.

The director of national intelligence is a cabinet-level position serving under President Joe Biden , whose administration has largely declined to speak on the subject of the FBI search on Mar-a-Lago. The federal search has sparked controversy on the right, where Trump supporters have been making threats to FBI agents.

The FBI affidavit confirmed that the National Archives alerted the Justice Department of potential misconduct in February. Thats after the agency spent months trying and failing to obtain all the missing presidential records from Trump, the affidavit said.

Under a federal law enacted after the Watergate scandal, presidential documents are the legal property of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which preserves them for the historical record.

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

Trump had been keeping boxes of presidential documents in a storage room at Mar-a-Lago that was secured by a mere padlock.