Shocking Deep State emails show FBI red-flagging weak evidence before Trump's Mar-a-Lago raid
The FBI did not believe the government had probable cause to raid Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in 2022, according to newly declassified documents.
The correspondence shows that the FBI was pressured by Joe Biden's Justice Department to move forward with the raid despite the agency's reservations.
The raid was conducted based on a tip-off from just one person and may have fallen below the evidentiary threshold for a search warrant - especially of a former president, the emails indicate.
The documents turned over from the FBI to Congress also reveal that the Washington Field Office (WFO) was in the process of pressing the DOJ to negotiate with Trump's lawyers the return of any classified information he may have taken with him from the White House.
In one email, an FBI agent quotes then-Deputy Assistant Attorney General George Toscas allegedly saying in a meeting he 'frankly doesn't give a damn about the optics' of a raid on the former president's residence.
Another reveals how the FBI believed a raid would be 'counterproductive,' and suggested an 'alternative, less intrusive' way to reclaim classified records.
But on August 4, 2022, an email went out detailing a plan for executing the warrant despite objections from the FBI.
'The FBI intends for the execution of the warrant to be handled in a professional, low key manner, and to be mindful of the optics of the search,' an agent wrote.
Newly declassified emails show that President Joe Biden's FBI did not think it had the evidence needed to justify probable cause to raid Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home – but went forward with the operation anyway
The raid resulted in the recovery of thousands of government documents – with at least 103 featuring some sort of classified markings
The agent requested the FBI handle the operation and the DOJ steer clear of the property due to the 'antagonistic relationship' with Trump.
The emails between the Bureau and DOJ in the months leading up to the raid show the FBI official serving as special agent in charge of the investigation expressing concerns about the need for a search of Mar-a-Lago.
'Very little has been developed related to who might be culpable for mishandling the documents,' they said.
'Even as we continue down the path towards a search warrant, WFO believes that a reasonable conversation with the former president's attorney, (stating that the FBI and DOJ are readying a search warrant, and have developed information that there are more documents at Mar a Lago), ought not to be discounted.'
The agent, whose name and email are redacted, claims that the WFO drafted a search warrant related to recovering boxes of potentially sensitive materials allegedly taken to Trump's residence after his term.
But the individual noted the field office 'has some concerns that the information is single source, has not been corroborated, and may be dated.'
Despite objections and concerns over the warrant, the raid was carried out.
Around 8.30am on August 8, 2022, FBI agents arrive at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. They notified the Secret Service ahead of time and did not wear any identifying jackets to execute the warrant.
But news quickly broke that the FBI was raiding the former president's Florida home.
Donald Trump speaks to reporters after a ceremony for the presentation of the Mexican Border Defense Medal in the Oval Office of the White House on December 15
Agents seized more than 13,000 government documents, including at least 103 items with classified markings covering sensitive topics like nuclear weapons and national security matters.
The agents were gone by around 4:30 pm that afternoon after inspecting the basement storage unit, Trump's '45 Office' and his entire residence, which famously included inspecting Melania Trump's closet and Barron Trump's room.
It was the first time in US history the FBI searched a former president's home and was part of the post-presidency government investigations into Trump.
Trump's attorneys Christina Bobb and Lindsey Halligan were on site but both were restricted from entering searched areas.
Bobb detailed the raid in her memoir and Halligan is now Trump's controversial acting Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
