Intel authorities will evaluate the implications of Trump's Mar-a-Lago docs for national security

Former President Donald Trump's holding of top-secret materials at his Mar-a-Lago estate will be assessed for potential national security implications, according to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, who spoke to senior senators. 
Informed by House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in a letter dated Friday, Haines' office will direct an investigation into "an assessment of the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents."

The review will be carried out in a way that "does not unduly interfere with DOJ's ongoing criminal investigation," Haines wrote. "The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) are working together to facilitate a classification review of relevant materials, including those recovered during the search."

The letter is the first documented interaction between the Biden administration and Congress about the ex-ongoing president's probe. The Justice Department is looking into possible breaches of the Presidential Records Act, the Espionage Act, and obstruction of justice, according to court records that were just released. 
It's also the first time the intelligence community has publicly acknowledged any potential harm brought on by the lost documents, which, according to prosecutors on Friday, comprised data gleaned from foreign intercepts and human sources. Since the search of Mar-a-Lago on August 8, top legislators have been asking for information on the content of the documents, but neither the intelligence committees nor the congressional leaders who make up the so-called Gang of Eight have received any briefings.

On the same day that a federal court unveiled a redacted copy of the affidavit outlining the Justice Department's reasoning for getting a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago, Haines responded. According to the affidavit, investigators thought Trump was keeping a variety of top-secret records at his home, including some of the late president's handwritten notes.

In a joint statement to POLITICO, Schiff and Maloney said, "We are glad that, in response to our request, Director Haines has verified that the Intelligence Community and Department of Justice are examining the damage caused by the unlawful storage of sensitive information at Mar-a-Lago." " The DOJ's affidavit, which was only partially released yesterday, confirms our severe worry that records that may imperil human sources were among those kept at Mar-a-Lago. It is crucial that the IC act quickly to evaluate the harm done and, if necessary, to remediate it. This process should go forward concurrently with the DOJ's criminal investigation.

The intelligence community will probably examine who may have accessed the very sensitive material without authorization. The Justice Department has already expressed concern about the records' shoddy protection of Trump's property. As Justice Department counterintelligence investigators establish if the highly sensitive data was hacked in any manner, that inquiry may also have an impact on the criminal investigation.

Although the investigation was conducted on a bipartisan basis, the Senate Intelligence Committee also requested the intelligence community to assess the harm caused by Trump's handling of the information. The proposal was endorsed by both the panel's vice chair, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, and chair, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia. 
In addition to advising Maloney, Schiff, and Warner of her office's intention to perform a damage assessment, Haines issued a similar statement to Warner and Rubio on Friday.

Additionally, the senators requested that the Justice Department provide the committee with access to the particular records that were taken from Mar-a-Lago. Additional congressional leaders also requested access to the materials.

Rubio didn't include Haines' answer in his previous statement on Saturday, just mentioning that the Justice Department hasn't yet replied to the committee's letter. 
According to Rubio, the Department of Justice has yet to provide information to the Senate Intelligence Committee about the specific intelligence documents that were taken from Mar-a-Lago and what prompted an unusual search warrant on President Trump's home.