FBI repeatedly warned DOJ didn’t have probable cause to raid Trump home: ‘Not been corroborated’

The FBI in summer 2022 raised repeated objections to raiding Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, warning agents did not believe the Biden Justice Department had enough evidence to establish “probable cause” that the then-former president had broken the law in handling classified documents, according to bombshell memos turned over Tuesday to Congress.”WFO [FBI’s Washington Field Office] has conducted approximately [Redacted] interviews related to this matter. Very little has been developed related to who might be culpable for mishandling the documents,” a June 1, 2022 FBI memo declared. “From the interviews, WFO has gathered information suggesting that there may be additional boxes (presumably of the same type as were sent back to NARA [National Archives] in January) at Mar-a-Lago.”
“WFO has been drafting a Search Warrant affidavit related to these potential boxes, but has some concerns that the information is single source, has not been corroborated, and may be dated. DOJ CES [Counterintelligence and Export Control Section] opines, however, that the SWs [search warrants] meet the probable cause standard,” that memo read.
A few weeks later, FBI agents raised more concerns, including about the legality of searching Trump’s personal residence at the Mar-a-Lago residence, the memos show.
“DOJ has inquired as to an Ops Plan for a SW of MAL [Mar-a-Lago]. I let them know we are not in agreement for PC [probable cause] on the SW [search warrant] and that we already had an Ops Plan in place that will [sic] can be quickly updated between FBI/MM [Miami Field Office] and FBI/WF [Washington Field Office],” a redacted FBI agent in the nation’s capital wrote in a July 12, 2022 email. “However, WF-[Redacted] does not believe we have PC for the 45 Office or the bedroom due to recency and issues of boxes versus classified information. Therefore, as we are in disagreement on the SW and its scope, we are not yet finalizing a SW as we are missing relevant logistics and details.”
Just the News obtained a copy of the memos after Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel declassified them and turned them over to Congress.
“Received shocking new docs 2day from DOJ & FBI showing FBI DID NOT BELIEVE IT HAD PROBABLE CAUSE to raid Pres[ident] Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, but Biden DOJ pushed for it anyway,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley tweeted on Tuesday afternoon.”Based on the records, Mar-a-Lago raid was a miscarriage of justice.”
The emails were turned over to the Senate and House Judiciary committees, ahead of a planned deposition Wednesday from ex-special prosecutor Jack Smith, who inherited the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case just months after the August 2022 raid of Trump’s home that rocked the political world ahead of the 2024 election.
It has long been rumored that some FBI agents disagreed with the decision to raid Trump’s home to look for classified documents at the request of the National Archives.
But the declassified emails chronicle the specific concerns that DOJ under President Joe Biden had not met the standard for a search warrant, but proceeded anyway, officials said.
The raid became a flash point in the battle between Biden and Trump ahead of the 2024 election, leading to two federal indictments against Trump that were ultimately dismissed in what Republicans argue were politically weaponized acts by a Democrat-run DOJ designed to influence the 2024 election.
The House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena recently compelling Smith to give a closed-door deposition Wednesday as part of the committee’s probe into the federal prosecutions of Trump.
“The Committee on the Judiciary is continuing to conduct oversight of the operations of the Office of Special Counsel you led — specifically, your team’s prosecutions of President Donald J. Trump and his co-defendants,” Chairman Jim Jordan wrote in the letter accompanying the subpoena two weeks ago. “Due to your service as Special Counsel, the Committee believes that you possess information that is vital to its oversight of this matter.”
Peter Koski, a lawyer for Smith, indicated that the former special counsel will comply.
Ahead of Smith’s appearance, House Democrats are trying to force the release of a classified version of his final report on his investigation.
Trump’s legal team has gone to court to try block the release.

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