Classified documents of the United States related to nuclear weapons were among the items the investigators sought in a search of former US president Donald Trump's residence in Florida on Monday, according to The Washington Post.
Experts in classified information said the unusual search underscores deep concern among government officials about the types of information they thought could be located at Trump's house, the report added.
On Monday, The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Shortly after the reports, Trump in a statement said, "My beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents."
After the FBI came under fire from Republican supporters for the raid on Trump, Attorney General Merrick Garland said The search warrant was authorized by a federal court upon the required finding of probable cause. Garland said he personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter.
"Second, 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," he said.
"Third, let me address recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors. I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked," he added.
Since March 2019, the attorney general, Letitia James, and her lawyers have scrutinized whether Trump and his company fraudulently inflated the value of his hotels, golf clubs and other assets.
Early this year, James said in a court filing that the company's business practices were "fraudulent or misleading," but added that her office needed to question Trump and two of his adult children to determine who was responsible for that conduct.
The deposition of Trump will follow similar questioning of Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. in recent days. It will represent the final stage of James's investigation, which Trump has dismissed as a politically motivated witch hunt, reported The New York times.
In January, Trump handed over 15 boxes of materials to government record-keepers amid concern he may have violated the Presidential Records Act.
This comes as the January 6 select committee's latest public hearing said that then US President Donald Trump chose not to intervene as a mob of his supporters attacked the Capitol.
However, Trump declined to say why the FBI agents were at Mar-a-Lago. He confirmed that the raid was unannounced and added "they even broke into my safe."
He called the raid by the FBI a Witch Hunt and said that there are dark times for the US stressing that the agency seized the "home of the 45th President of the United States."
( With inputs from ANI )
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