Intel officials will assess ‘risk to national security’ from documents found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said her office will lead a damage assessment of the documents that were removed from former President Donald Tru
WASHINGTON — Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said her office will lead a damage assessment of the documents that were removed from former President Donald Trump Mar-a-Lago home, in a letter to congressional lawmakers, obtained by NBC News Saturday.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or DNI, which oversees the CIA, the National Security Agency and 16 other agencies, will “lead an Intelligence Community assessment of the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents,” Haines wrote in the letter, dated Friday.
The DNI and Department of Justice are "working together to facilitate a classification review of relevant materials, including those recovered during the search," Haines wrote, adding that both teams will coordinate closely to ensure the assessment doesn’t interfere with the Justice Department's ongoing criminal investigation.
The letter was addressed to House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and House Oversight Committee chair Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who had both asked for a security damage assessment days after the FBI searched Trump's Florida club on Aug. 8. The Senate intelligence committee has also asked for a damage assessment as well as further details about the substances of the documents but is yet to receive any details.
In a statement Saturday, a spokesperson from Haines' office said the "assessment we are leading is consistent with the bipartisan request" from the chairs of the Senate intelligence committee.
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