Uncovered FBI documents have revealed new information about federal investigations into Ivana Trump, the first wife of former President Donald Trump.
Bloomberg News obtained and first reported the contents of the 190 pages of FBI files on the Trump family matriarch, who passed away last year at the age of 73.
The now-publicized documents were classified as “secret,” according to Bloomberg.
The documents reveal that in the 1990s, Ivana Trump was the subject of an FBI counterintelligence inquiry into her ties to Czechoslovakia, her home country, which was a Communist-ruled nation at the time.
A “preliminary inquiry” into Ivana Trump was opened by the FBI’s New York field office after it received information from a “confidential source,” according to memos contained in the files, which were dated February 14, 1989, and March 7, 1989.
The documents refer to “highly sensitive and reliable sources” who “advise[d]” the FBI during this inquiry, reported The Daily Beast.
Czechoslovakian-born Ivana Trump first emigrated to Austria, then later to Canada, before marrying Donald Trump in 1977. FBI legal attachés retroactively investigated her movements abroad. They also looked into certain relationships she had with people. However, those people’s names were redacted in the files obtained by Bloomberg.
“It is unknown if the allegations stem from jealousies of her wealth or fame,” the February memo reads. “Investigation continuing.”
She divorced Donald Trump in 1990 after bearing three of his children — Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka. The divorce itself was also apparently investigated by the FBI.
While the overwhelming bulk of the contents of the FBI’s inquiry was redacted and its nature is unknown, Bloomberg reported it was highly sensitive, lasted for at least two years, and involved the FBI’s counterintelligence division.
One document from 1990 reveals that the FBI was investigating a man who reportedly arranged fraudulent marriages. He was known as a “leading member of the Czechoslovak artistic/intellectual community,” and some believed he was connected to Ivana Trump.
This man was interviewed by the FBI, but the details of that interview were redacted.
Overall, the files contain few references to Donald Trump, aside from the inclusion of a Time magazine article from January 16, 1989, headlined “Trump.”
The inquiry into Ivana Trump was closed after “no outstanding leads remain[ed].” She was never accused of any crime by federal law enforcement.
Bloomberg reported that it obtained the FBI documents after filing a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA), asking for any records pertaining to Ivana Trump.
The FBI released 190 of the almost 900 pages of related documents on Monday, saying it will release the remaining files next month.
The Dallas Express reached out to the FBI for comment but was told by the National Press Office that the agency “does not comment on FOIA releases that are sent to the requestor.”
