Search warrant reveals real reason for FBI raid on Donald Trump’s house
By
Samantha Maiden
Donald Trump is under investigation for espionage as the official search warrant FBI used to raid his Florida mansion is revealed for the first time.
Former US President Donald Trump is under investigation for potential violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice, according to the search warrant used to raid his home and FBI officials found “information on the President of France.”
The search warrant, which was unsealed by a federal judge overnight, reveals the FBI is seeking evidence about whether his handling of classified documents amounts to a violation of three criminal statutes.
The warrant states it is seeking all “physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed in violation of three potential crimes, including a part of the Espionage Act outlawing gathering, transmitting, or losing national defence information.”
The search warrant was unsealed by a federal judge.
The FBI is seeking evidence about Trump’s handling of classified documents.
According to a written inventory prepared by FBI officials, the raid discovered material stored by the former US President about the President of France Emmanuel Macron.
The pair had a notoriously difficult relationship with Mr Trump calling the European leader “a wuss guy” according to a recent book.
In 2019, the former US President criticised President Macron as “very, very nasty” after he suggested NATO was suffering “brain death” under Trump’s leadership.
“He’s all of a hundred twenty pounds of fury,” Trump said, according to Stephanie Grisham’s book, I’ll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw in the Trump White House.
Some documents were about Emmanuel Macron.
A description of items found at the house includes ‘top secret documents’.
It confirms a number of boxes of items were seized.
Mr Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton told CBS News that the former President’s behaviour around classified documents was a long-term concern.
“Often the president would say [to intelligence briefers], ‘Well, can I keep this?’ And in my experience, the intelligence briefers most often would say, ‘Well, sir, we’d prefer to take that back,’” he said.
“This is very interesting. I’d like to keep it,” President Trump reportedly told officials.
Asked why he wanted to keep it, Mr Bolton replied, “Well, I don’t know, but it worried me.”
A written inventory prepared by the FBI and submitted to the court confirms about 20 boxes of new items were seized at the Mar-a-Lago Club on Monday also included information about his pardon to Roger Stone, and a variety of classified material.
In 2020, President Trump commuted the sentence of his friend Roger J. Stone Jr. on seven felony crimes sparing him a 40-month jail term.
A long-time Republican operative, Mr Stone was convicted of obstructing a congressional investigation into Mr Trump’s 2016 campaign and possible ties to Russia.
Former US President Donald Trump.
The Washington Post reported Thursday that FBI agents who carried out the search at Mar-a-Lago were looking for classified documents about nuclear weapons.
However, neither the warrant or the written inventory details what was discovered during the execution of the court-sanctioned search warrant.
Mr Trump has declared the “nuclear weapons issue is a hoax”, rejecting reports the FBI was searching for classified material at his home.
The former President, who has backed calls for the release of the warrant, made the claim in the wake of a report in The Washington Post.
“Nuclear weapons issue is a Hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a Hoax, two Impeachments were a Hoax, the Mueller investigation was a Hoax, and much more,” he said in a new statement.
“Same sleazy people involved. Why wouldn’t the FBI allow the inspection of areas at Mar-a-Lago with our lawyer’s, or others, present. Made them wait outside in the heat, wouldn’t let them get even close – said ‘ABSOLUTELY NOT.’”
Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
A Secret Service agent in front of Trump’s home.
He also suggested the FBI law enforcement officers may have “planted” documents.
“Planting information anyone? Reminds me of a Christofer (sic) Steele Do
Earlier this week, Newsweek reported that the FBI search of former Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence was sparked by an “FBI confidential human source” in the Trump camp who knew what documents to look for and the location.
According to two separate reports in Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal, the raid of Mr Trump’s Florida residence was also “deliberately timed to occur when the former president was away.”
Mr Trump voluntarily handed over more than a dozen boxes of material earlier this year.
Those records reportedly included letters from North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un — correspondence Mr Trump had referred to as “love letters” — and other classified material, prompting the National Archives to consult with the Justice Department.
“I was really tough and so was he, and we went back and forth,” Mr Trump told a rally in 2018 of his relationship with the North Korean dictator.
“And then we fell in love, OK? No, really, he wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters. We fell in love. The ones I did best with were the tyrants. For whatever reason, I got along great with them.”
