Internal FBI communications released by Sen. Chuck Grassley on Tuesday reveal that bureau officials did not believe they had established probable cause to seek a search warrant for President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate ahead of the August 2022 raid.
One internal record, written by an unidentified assistant special agent, stated that the FBI’s Washington Field Office “does not believe (and has articulated to DOJ [counterintelligence]) that we have established probable cause for the search warrant for classified records at Mar-a-Lago.” The memo added that “DOJ has opined that they do have probable cause,” and was “requesting a wide scope including residence, office, storage space.”
According to the same FBI official, agents spent roughly six weeks attempting to build a probable cause case, an effort described internally as “counterproductive.” Interviews conducted during that period also failed to produce evidence that sensitive intelligence materials remained at Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, property after documents were returned on June 3, 2022.
Additional emails included in the release show that, just one week before the Aug. 8, 2022, search, senior FBI officials were exploring alternative approaches. In one message, Washington Field Office counterintelligence chief Tony Riedlinger wrote that the bureau was seeking “a second path” related to the search warrant.
Riedlinger and Washington Field Office head Steven D’Antuono were also copied on correspondence indicating the FBI hoped any search would be carried out “in a professional, low-key manner … mindful of the optics of the search.” That strategy included an attempt to secure cooperation from one of Trump’s attorneys, a step FBI officials cautioned “may not go well at DOJ.”
Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the documents public and described them as deeply troubling. In a post on X, he wrote that the records were “shocking,” asserting that the “FBI DID NOT BELIEVE IT HAD PROBABLE CAUSE to raid Pres Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home but Biden DOJ pushed for it anyway.” The Iowa Republican further argued that the emails and memos demonstrated a “miscarriage of justice” directed at Trump.
The disclosure comes after special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump in June 2023 with dozens of counts tied to allegations that classified materials were improperly stored in various locations at Mar-a-Lago, including a bedroom, bathroom, ballroom, and basement. That case was later dismissed by South Florida U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that Smith had been unlawfully appointed without congressional authorization.
{Matzav.com}
