A new report from Newsweek cites two senior government officials at the Department of Justice who claim that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland didn't approve the raid on Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago.
Newsweek's William M. Arkin explains that the FBI has a confidential informant at Mar-a-Lago. Someone who told agents that Trump was hiding classified documents at his Florida resort and the location of said documents.
Both senior government officials say the raid was scheduled with no political motive, the FBI solely intent on recovering highly classified documents that were illegally removed from the White House. Preparations to conduct such an operation began weeks ago, but in planning the date and time, the FBI Miami Field Office and Washington headquarters were focused on the former president's scheduled return to Florida from his residences in New York and New Jersey.
The decision to bring along a safe cracker with the team that raided Mar-a-Lago seems to suggest that their informant told them that the documents in question could be found safely tucked away inside Trump's safe.
The raid's timing was set to ensure the former president wouldn't be there. The FBI mistakenly hoped this would lower its profile and limit media attention.
Instead, several Democrats questioned its necessity. Meanwhile, Republicans have vowed to ramp up congressional oversight of the Biden White House's management of the DOJ.
Arkin writes:
“They were seeking to avoid any media circus,” says the second source, a senior intelligence official who was briefed on the investigation and the operation. “So even though everything made sense bureaucratically and the FBI feared that the documents might be destroyed, they also created the very firestorm they sought to avoid, in ignoring the fallout.”
On Monday at about 10 a.m. EST, two dozen FBI agents and technicians showed up at Donald Trump's Florida home to execute a search warrant to obtain any government-owned documents that might be in the possession of Trump but are required to be delivered to the Archives under the provisions of the 1978 Presidential Records Act. (In response to the Hillary Clinton email scandal, Trump himself signed a law in 2018 that made it a felony to remove and retain classified documents.)
…
According to news reports, some 10-15 boxes of documents were removed from the premises. Donald Trump said in a statement that the FBI opened his personal safe as part of their search. Trump attorney Lindsey Halligan, who was present during the multi-hour search, says that the FBI targeted three rooms—a bedroom, an office and a storage room. That suggests that the FBI knew specifically where to look.
Hot Air's John Sexton continues:
The story concludes with another big revelation. It claims that AG Merrick Garland was being updated on the National Archives investigation and knew about the grand jury but did not approve the search Monday. Newsweek's source claims Garland had “no prior knowledge” of the time of the raid. Instead it was FBI Director Christopher Wray who approved the search. Finally, the source adds, “It really is a case of the Bureau misreading the impact.”
This is a lot of new information but I think the big take-aways are that this had nothing to do with Jan. 6 and that these DOJ sources are now feeling a lot of pressure, enough that they are a) trying to explain themselves and b) blaming the “spectacular backfire” on the FBI and the US Attorney while trying to insulate AG Garland from the blowback. [emphasis added]
This story is developing. Stay with American Liberty News for the latest updates.
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If the Judge says he didn’t sign the warrant, who the hell did?
Garland did not sign warrant but an Obama appointed judge did sign the warrant for FBI.
There’s also this with regard to the Judge who signed the Search warrant:
How is it possible that in a country of 330 million people, the guy who approved the Trump warrant is the same guy who:
-donated to Obama
-represented Epstein’s gang for 10 years
-circled the wagons for Lois Lerner
-presided over Trump v Clinton
-had to recuse himself from Trump v Clinton?
🤬🇺🇲😈🇺🇲👹
Kind of looks like this whole thing is pure politics, no matter how hard the administration try’s to deny it. Also it seems like Trump has one of the “hate Trump” people in his staff that is stabbing him in the back. The left has been trying to get rid of Trump since before he was ever elected. What are they so afraid of?
You’re right. It’s an anti-Trump administration, and it appears there’s a staff member or Secret Service agent that also falls into that category. If it’s a staff member,
another possibility is that they may have been bribed to turn on Trump.
At this point, the left has so vilified Trump that they have to do whatever they can to destroy him. After claiming that he’s “an existential threat to our democracy,” they painted themselves into a corner. Now, if they don’t cause Trump’s complete distraction, they’ve allowed “an enemy of the people ” to prevail.
WTF BIDEN DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THE RAID,GARLAND SAYS HE DID NOT APPROVE THE RAID,AND THE FBI SAYS FXXX YOU WE CAN DO WHATEVER WE WANT,THIS IS THE DEMOCRAT RULE CAN SEE WHY THE WORD RAT IS IN THEIR NAME.
One can imagine certain D.C. FBI operatives getting lifetime transfers to newly opened field offices in Fairbanks or Tombstone in 2025.
If the GOP gains control of both the house and senate they really need to do a lot of cleaning out of our government entities. We need more people that actually wants the best for our country, not only themselves.
Christopher Wray should be moved to the FBI field office in Nome Alaska.
Impossible for Biden not to have approved this raid on a former presidents home. An act of this magnitude happening without Biden knowing about it and green lighting it is laughable. Can you imagine either the DOJ or FBI jumping the chain of command in something so outrageous? Congrats you dorks, your stupidity has backfired on you!
Another WITCH HUNT and political agenda!!!! Just proved to Americans that Biden’s a fraud and not the legitimate President!!!
Investigate election interference,Hunter’s laptop, money laundering,insider trading, politicians spouses above the law, FBI is CORRUPT!!! STOP with the criminals running and destroying America!!! I thought FBI worked for Americans!!!
hmmmm. . .epic fail, turbo backpedaling AND ineffective arse-covering = dem ‘rule’ at it’s ‘finest’. . .all under the heading of ‘unintended consequences’, of which they are the perpetual purveyors.
Want to bet this “source” is just as fake as the “sources” for the Russia hoax and all the other donkey s*** over the past 5 years? If the “source” told them where the “papers” were, why did it take them NINE HOURS to retrieve them?
How about the king of fake sources: Adam Schiff?
Really….NO political motivation?
Once again it appears that AOL has determined I am not entitled to my opinion
If it doesn’t fall within their line of thinking, your opinion doesn’t count.
Perhaps, the FBI can raid the Clintons and get the silverware and China they took from the White House when they left 21 years ago.
They gifted that to Putin.
There is no excuse for this obscene and Unconstitutional behavior. Just because Democrats are terrified of Trump running for office again and getting elected, therefore cleaning house in D.C. I don’t know who their informant may be but I can guarantee more than likely the were planted and paid by the Democrats to create this ruse. They waited for Trump and family to be gone before doing this and that in itself is also questionable. The DOJ and FBI have no integrity, all they have done for the past 6 years is try to destroy a man who did more for our country and our people than anyone has ever done other than Ronald Reagan.
Seems similar to how Putin deals with Alexei Navalny
Then WHO did?
& then read where DOJ asked documents under lock & key & FBI broke lock
& said attorneys cant read search warrants
So I’ll assume Wray knew?? This is the dumbest move they could have made this close to the midterms.
Then I read on other site He did approve raid
Guess we know now that these 2 “infomants” were lying and their smoke screen on lies didn’t work. Garland had to confess that he signed off on the raid. More fodder for his impeachment when when the Repubs take over after the midterms.