Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to federal charges relating to the removal of the classified documents and lying about it. Photo: AFP
New Zealand's spy agencies are refusing to comment about Five Eyes classified documents caught up in the case against Donald Trump.
The indictment against the former US president contained images of the documents spilled on the floor at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.
A handout photo from the US Department of Justice shows some of the material spilled on the floor at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. Photo: AFP
New Zealand is a member alongside the US of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing group.
"One of the most striking images in the document is a picture of a box of top secret national security documents that in 2021 had spilled on the floor of a Mar-a-Lago storage room accessible to many of the resort's employees," the New York Times reported.
"The files were marked with restrictive 'five eyes' classification markings, indicating they could only be viewed by officials with top security clearances issued by the United States and its closest allies."
Asked if they had any concerns security might have been breached, the local spy agencies were not forthcoming.
"This is not something the NZIC [New Zealand intelligence community] would comment on," the agencies told RNZ.
"Any questions relating to the indictment should be put to authorities in the appropriate jurisdiction in the United States."
In Australia, another Five Eyes member, the Foreign Minister Penny Wong there was similarly quizzed by local media last month but said this was for the US to deal with.
Last month Trump pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges that he unlawfully kept national-security documents when he left office and lied to officials who sought to recover them.
Trump's plea, entered before US Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman in a federal court in Miami, sets up a legal battle likely to play out over coming months as he campaigns to win back the presidency in the November 2024 election. Experts say it could be a year or more before a trial takes place.
