Newly declassified files reveal FBI called for a 'preliminary inquiry' into Ivana Trump: report

The FBI on Monday released internal documents the agency kept on former President Donald Trump’s first wife, Ivana Trump, Bloomberg News reports.

The files were classified as “Secret,” the report said.

Ivana Trump died from a fall in July at her New York home. She was 73.

The FBI in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from Bloomberg News released 190 pages of the 900 pages it located, and the agency said it would release the rest of the documents next month.

The FBI keeps files that include information developed from multiple sources including news clippings and interview summaries that for privacy reasons are withheld from public view while the person is still living, but the privacy rights end after the person’s death.

The FBI in a document dated Feb. 14, 1989 said it “recommended a preliminary inquiry be opened on Ivana Trump” based information a confidential source provided to the agency, the report said.

According to the report, the document said “it is unknown if the allegations stem from jealousies of her wealth and fame. Investigation continuing.” The FBI redacted the contents of the inquiry.

According to a 1990 file, the FBI sought a man with ties to Czechoslovakian intelligence ties who arranged fictitious marriages and who was believed to have a connection to Ivana Trump, who was also born in Czechoslovakia.

Ivana married Donald Trump, then a budding real estate developer, in 1977.

Their first child, Donald Jr., was born later that year. Ivanka was born in 1981 and Eric followed in 1984.

Throughout the '80s, the Trumps were one of New York's highest-profile couples, their extravagant lifestyle exemplifying the flashy excesses of the decade.

Their power and celebrity grew as Donald Trump's property business soared, with Ivana Trump taking on number of key roles in the business.

Their high-profile split, rumored to have been caused in part by Donald Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples, provided juicy content for New York's tabloids.

Donald Trump and Ivana Trump divorced in the early '90s and in 1993 the future president married Maples.

Ivana Trump went on to enjoy a successful business career of her own, developing clothing, jewelry and beauty products and penning a number of books.

Donald Trump's union with Maples lasted until 1999. He married has third and current wife, Melania Trump, in 2005.

Ivana Trump was married four times in her life, once before her marriage to Donald Trump and twice after.

With additional reporting by AFP