31 confidential, 54 secret, 18 top secret, 90 empty folders: Trump docs seized from Mar-a-Lago, by the numbers

The unsealed inventory of what the FBI found in Donald Trump’s office and storage area at his Mar-a-Lago residence reveals a startling number of government documents were taken away from the White House at the end of his presidency.

According to the inventory from the 8 August search, there were:

- 31 documents marked CONFIDENTIAL

- 54 documents marked SECRET

- 18 documents marked TOP SECRET

In addition, there were a further 11,179 government-owned documents or photos without classified markings that should nevertheless not be at the former president’s home, but in the possession of the National Archives.

Confusingly, there were also 48 empty folders with “Classified” labels on them, and another 42 empty “Return to Staff Secretary/Military Aide” folders.

Former White House Situation Room director and ex-NSA chief of staff Larry Pfeiffer told The Independent that the empty classified folders are “on its immediate face disturbing”.

All of these documents, photographs, and folders were mixed in with various magazines, press clippings, gifts, books, and even clothing, across 33 boxes or containers.

The earlier redacted affidavit that led to the August search of the property when unsealed revealed for the first time what had already been returned to the National Archives by Mr Trump in January this year.

The scale of secret documents found in those 15 returned boxes, which were reviewed by the National Archives in May, was cited by the FBI as a justification for the Mar-a-Lago search, as they suspected Mr Trump was in possession of even more classified material.

Here is what was contained in those 15 boxes, according to the FBI affidavit:

184 unique documents bearing classification markings

- 67 documents marked as CONFIDENTIAL

- 92 documents marked as SECRET

- 25 documents marked as TOP SECRET

Several of Mr Trump’s handwritten notes

This takes the total number of classified documents taken by Mr Trump to his Palm Beach home to 287 including both those returned in January and those seized in August. Broken down by classification, that amounts to:

- 98 documents marked CONFIDENTIAL

- 145 documents marked SECRET

- 43 documents marked TOP SECRET

These classification categories are defined by the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:

“Top Secret refers to national security information or material which requires the highest degree of protection. The test for assigning Top Secret classification is whether its unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security. Examples of exceptionally grave damage include armed hostilities against the United States or its allies; disruption of foreign relations vitally affecting the national security; the compromise of vital national defense plans or complex cryptologic and communications intelligence systems; the revelation of sensitive intelligence operations; and the disclosure of scientific or technological developments vital to national security. This classification is to be used with the utmost restraint.

Secret refers to national security information or material which requires a substantial degree of protection. The test for assigning Secret classification shall be whether its unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause serious damage to the national security. Examples of serious damage include disruption of foreign relations significantly affecting the national security; significant impairment of a program or policy directly related to the national security; revelation of significant military plans or intelligence operations; and compromise of significant scientific or technological developments relating to national security. The classification Secret shall be sparingly used.

Confidential refers to national security information or material which requires protection, but not to the degree described in paragraphs (a) (1) and (2) of this section. The test for assigning Confidential classification shall be whether its unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause damage to the national security.”