Why did Trump take classified documents in the first place? 

More pressing answers are needed for what the former president intended to do with sensitive information the FBI uncovered, writes Timothy L O’Brien 

'It’s not unreasonable to worry that his communications with foreign leaders — and anything disreputable or possibly illegal that took place in connection with those — could have been something he felt compelled to hide.'

We now know that the reason the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched Donald Trump’s Palm Beach residence last week is because the 45th president is under investigation for pocketing classified documents related to nuclear weapons and possibly violating the Espionage Act. For good measure, he may have also lied to federal officials about the documents and obstructed justice.

Much of the drumbeating that followed news of the FBI search focused on investigators’ motives for executing a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago. That’s largely because Trump seized the public relations high ground in the wake of the search, filling a communications vacuum the Justice Department helped create by not providing more immediate clarity about its investigation.