FBI Director Kash Patel said Tuesday that internal communications confirm long-standing reports that agents warned against the 2022 search of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate because they believed probable cause had not been established.
According to a batch of newly declassified emails released by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa, FBI personnel repeatedly raised red flags with Justice Department officials in the weeks leading up to the search, arguing that the evidentiary foundation for a warrant was weak. Those concerns, the emails show, were ultimately brushed aside by prosecutors in the Biden administration.
“It’s true – we just turned over documents to Capitol Hill to be made public showing the FBI told DOJ they did not have probable cause for raiding President Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago but DOJ ‘didn’t give a damn’ and did it anyway,” Patel wrote on X.
The internal correspondence spans from June 2022 until shortly before the Aug. 8, 2022 raid and includes exchanges between FBI agents and DOJ attorneys. In multiple messages, agents described the information supporting a search as thin, outdated, or unverified.
“Very little has been developed related to who might be culpable for mishandling the documents,” an FBI official serving as an assistant special agent in charge wrote in one email. The official added that claims about additional boxes of documents still being stored at Mar-a-Lago were based on a “single source,” were “not corroborated,” and might be “dated.”
Other emails show frustration within the bureau over the drafting of the warrant application. One agent objected to being asked to repeatedly revise affidavit drafts without any new evidence emerging.
“We haven’t generated any new facts, but keep being given draft after draft after draft,” the agent wrote. “Absent a witness coming forward with recent information about classified [materials] on site, at what point is it fair to table this?”
Despite those internal objections, DOJ officials concluded that the legal threshold had been met and pressed forward with a sweeping warrant authorizing searches of Trump’s residence, office, and storage areas at the Florida property.
At the same time, FBI personnel advocated for a less aggressive course. Agents suggested notifying Trump’s legal team that a warrant was being prepared and pursuing voluntary compliance, which Trump’s attorneys had already offered.
“Even as we continue down the path toward a search warrant, WFO [Washington, D.C., Field Office] believes that a reasonable conversation with the former president’s attorney … ought not to be discounted,” the official wrote, noting that the documents could be secured while classification issues were resolved.
In another internal assessment, the FBI’s Washington Field Office stated it did “not believe … that we have established probable cause for the search warrant for classified records at Mar-a-Lago,” even as DOJ leadership maintained the opposite view.
Emails also reflected concerns that executing a raid would backfire. Agents warned it could be “counterproductive” and urged consideration of “alternative, less intrusive and likelier quicker options” for retrieving any remaining records. Those proposals were rejected.
The search resulted in the seizure of thousands of documents from Trump’s first term, including materials labeled classified. Prosecutors later brought 40 federal charges accusing Trump of mishandling classified documents, all of which he denied, pleading not guilty and disputing any wrongdoing.
In July 2024, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the indictment after ruling that special counsel Jack Smith had been improperly appointed. After Trump’s re-election, the Biden Justice Department dropped its appeal of Cannon’s decision, citing longstanding DOJ policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
{Matzav.com}
President Donald Trump on Tuesday approved a new proclamation that widens his administration’s travel ban, extending full entry restrictions to additional countries, according to Newsmax Wires.
The White House said the directive blocks most travel to the United States by nationals of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria, citing ongoing failures by those governments to satisfy U.S. security and screening requirements, Reuters reported.
Officials said the decision reflects concerns that authorities in those nations cannot consistently verify the identities or backgrounds of travelers, a vulnerability the administration says poses a risk to public safety.
The proclamation also applies full restrictions to individuals traveling on documents issued by the Palestinian Authority, a measure the administration said was necessary to eliminate a weakness in the existing vetting process, Reuters said.
The latest move builds on a proclamation Trump signed on June 4 that created a layered system of travel bans and visa limitations tied directly to national security considerations, according to the Federal Register.
Under that earlier order, the administration halted most new visas for citizens of Afghanistan, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, based on State Department guidance summarizing the policy.
That June proclamation also introduced partial visa suspensions for Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela, applying only to certain visa categories, the State Department said.
Administration officials said the countries targeted in the June action were chosen due to factors such as high visa overstay rates, unreliable passport and civil registry systems, and limited cooperation with U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem indicated earlier this month that further expansion was under consideration, saying during a television interview that more than 30 countries were being reviewed.
Noem said the administration’s objective was to restore “common-sense enforcement” and ensure that everyone entering the United States undergoes thorough and reliable vetting.
CBS News separately reported that Department of Homeland Security officials had completed internal security assessments and were preparing to roll out additional restrictions based on those findings.
Supporters of the travel ban argue that the policy fulfills Trump’s long-standing pledge to prioritize American safety and tighten enforcement they believe had eroded under previous administrations.
The expanded restrictions come as the administration presses ahead with a broader immigration crackdown that includes tougher border controls, increased interior enforcement, and a renewed emphasis on national sovereignty, according to multiple media reports.
Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security proposed new regulations that would require travelers from Visa Waiver Program countries to provide more extensive personal information, including social media history.
Officials said those proposed rules are designed to close loopholes exploited by hostile actors and prevent visa-free travel from becoming a security risk.
Immigration policy analysts outside the administration said the expanded ban substantially raises the number of people subject to U.S. entry limits, according to the American Immigration Council.
The Council on Foreign Relations noted that many of the countries facing full bans are dealing with instability or conflict, conditions U.S. officials argue make dependable screening extremely difficult.
Critics have warned that the policy could damage diplomatic relationships, but administration officials have responded that security imperatives take precedence over diplomatic concerns.
The White House has stressed that the proclamation allows for narrow exceptions and case-by-case waivers for individuals who clearly satisfy U.S. security standards, consistent with the framework established in June.
{Matzav.com}
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will deliver a nationwide address from the White House on Wednesday evening, scheduled for 9 p.m. EST.
The president shared the announcement in a post on Truth Social, writing:
“My Fellow Americans: I will be giving an ADDRESS TO THE NATION tomorrow night, LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, at 9 P.M. EST. I look forward to “seeing” you then. It has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.”
While confirming the time and location of the speech, Trump did not indicate what subject he plans to address during the remarks.
{Matzav.com}
Yesterday, Agudath Israel of America filed an amicus curiae “friend of the court” brief in Lost Lake Holdings, LLC v. Town of Forestburgh (S.D.N.Y.), a private discrimination lawsuit brought pursuant to the Fair Housing Act. The lawsuit alleges that the Town of Forestburgh and other individual and municipal defendants engaged in a series of discriminatory acts to prevent an Orthodox Jewish developer from building housing units in Forestburgh because it would attract Orthodox Jews.
The case began in 2020 when an Orthodox Jewish developer purchased the rights to a previously approved “shovel-ready” property. As soon as the Jewish developer made the purchase, approvals were withdrawn, and the town passed a series of ordinances aimed at thwarting the development. This prompted a lawsuit from the developer accusing the town of violating the Federal Fair Housing Act.
Significantly, the United States filed a Statement of Interest in the case, expressing concern over the allegations in the Complaint, including a number of communications among town officials that show blatant discrimination.
For example, the Chairman of Forestburgh’s Town Planning Board states: “Please don’t be scared about the [H]asidic threat ― we’re energized and have the cash to fight and make their lives miserable…. Bloomingberg [sic] was asleep: we’re on amphetamines.”
In another instance, a private citizen wrote: “I have no qualms with their religion, but I would note that their sect is notorious for misogyny [sic] and child abuse. I do fear their wanton destruction of the towns and school districts . . . they take over, like locusts – killing everything they encounter, draining every last resource, bleeding the beast (as they say internally regarding welfare), and destroying Forestburgh as we know and love it today.” After receiving the email, instead of deleting the email or replying that he rejects this characterization of Hasidic Orthodox Jews, the Town Board Planning Chair forwarded the email to unknown recipients, stating “I too have been thinking strategy about how to prevent Lost Lake from overwhelming the town.”
Following a dismissal of the lawsuit by the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York, an appeal was filed by Plaintiff. The brief filed by Agudath Israel focuses on the issue of “ripeness” and specifically how a demonstrated hostility in the form of antisemitism towards the Plaintiff and clear showing that the municipality has dug in its heels against approving the project renders the requirement to obtain a final determination inapplicable. Therefore, dismissal of the lawsuit on those grounds was contrary to the law. Furthermore, the Court’s failure to account for prejudice in land-use processes threatens special harm to Jewish communities. The brief cites many examples of institutionalized antisemitism through hostile zoning laws that have been documented by Agudath Israel.
Agudath Israel thanks The Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty, The National Council of Young Israel, and The Jewish Community Council of Sullivan County for joining in this brief and the Religious Liberty Clinic of Notre Dame, John Meiser, Esq., Meredith Kessler, Esq., and Dominic Canonico, Esq. for authoring the brief with the assistance of Agudath Israel’s General Counsel, Daniel Kaminetsky, Esq.
{Matzav.com}
