On Monday night, it was revealed that the FBI had returned three passports that had been found at Mar-a-Lago during an impromptu search of Donald Trump’s Florida home the previous week.
A hearing to decide whether to unseal the affidavit used to get the search warrant has been set by the federal judge who first authorised it. It’ll happen on Thursday.
It comes after Trump vehemently demanded on Monday that the ‘fully unredacted’ paper be released immediately.
According to NBC News, the bureau admitted seizing the former president’s passports the same day he claimed they had “stolen” them on his Truth Social app.
The former president once again had them, according to a Department of Justice representative who verified this to the media outlet.
DailyMail.com has requested confirmation from the DOJ and FBI.
After officially objecting to its publication in a court filing on Monday, the DOJ is anticipated to make an argument against making the affidavit public.
As its investigation into Trump’s handling of sensitive materials moves forward, it cautioned that the publishing of the affidavit would “likely chill future cooperation” from witnesses.
The agency did agree to give records with less information, however.
Following the ‘terrible and horrifying break-in’ at Mar-a-Lago last week, the former president said on Monday that it was ‘in the interest of openness’ that the affidavit be made available to the public.
He also criticised the “quite big number of gun-toting FBI officers” who broke into his house and asked in a post on Truth Social that the judge who issued the search order resign.
Taylor Budowich, the spokesperson for Trump, provided an email from a DOJ employee that seemed to confirm that the FBI did take his three passports during the raid on the home.
Budowich sent a message from Jay Bratt of the National Security Division that purportedly said that the FBI raid on Donald Trump’s Florida residence resulted in the theft of two expired passports as well as one current diplomatic passport.
The former president’s spokesperson also retaliated against Norah O’Donnell of CBS News, who had previously claimed that a source in the DOJ had informed her that the FBI did not possess his records.
On Monday, Trump repeatedly criticised the DOJ and FBI in an angry manner for what he called a “attack on a political opponent” by seizing them.
Trump has been fighting back since since he revealed on Monday that federal officials had searched his Palm Beach home and taken 27 boxes of supposedly classified data.
Although it’s a little improvement from his 30 percent popularity in October, conservative pollster Rasmussen Reports revealed that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s support is at a low 36 percent since the FBI operation.
Late on Monday night, Trump demanded the prompt publication of the “full” declaration on his Truth Social account.
There is no way to legitimise the unexpected raid by a huge number of armed FBI agents and the Department of “Justice” on Mar-a-Lago, the residence of the 45th President of the United States (who received a record number of votes!
However, I demand the immediate publishing of the whole unredacted affidavit related to this terrible and startling BREAK-IN in the sake of transparency.
But the DOJ had earlier on Monday resisted attempts to make the affidavit public.
A Florida court has been urged to make the affidavit supporting the raid public by many media outlets and Republican members of Congress after it sparked a political uproar.
Last Monday, Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart issued an order requiring the DOJ to respond to requests to unseal the warrant that served as the basis for the search.
The judge already withdrew himself from a case between Trump and Hillary Clinton in June due to “personal prejudice,” albeit it is not clear what kind of bias this is.
In a document submitted to a US District Court, the Justice Department noted that the search warrant and a receipt for materials taken from Mar-a-Lago had previously been made public.
However, it said that the affidavit provided a “completely different set of concerns,” since it outlines the FBI’s probable cause justification for why the search warrant should be issued.
The government stated: “There are strong grounds that warrant keeping the affidavit confidential, including to safeguard the integrity of an ongoing law enforcement investigation that implicates national security.”
It said that maintaining the integrity of an ongoing criminal investigation was in the government’s “compelling, overriding interest.”
‘Critically essential and comprehensive investigation data,’ it said, as well as ‘very sensitive material regarding witnesses, including witnesses examined by the government,’ were included in the affidavit.
The requisite redactions would “be so extensive as to leave the remaining unsealed text devoid of meaningful information,” according to the Justice Department, should the court authorise the publication of the affidavit.
Late on Monday, Trump’s spokesperson Budowich posted the email conversation with DOJ representative Bratt on his Twitter account.
“We have learnt that the filter agents seized three passports belonging to President Trump, two of which were out-of-date and one of which was his active diplomatic passport,” the statement said. They are being returned.
This is how fake news operates, guys, said Budowich. The Biden administration aggressively promotes half facts and falsehoods, which the media gladly repeats in order to advance a biassed narrative against Trump.
In a statement to Fox, he said, “This is a classic illustration of how the lazy, the dishonest, and the malicious are destroying the critical institutions of journalism and justice from inside.
“Unfortunately, it can’t be rectified from the outside.” The remaining decent individuals in these institutions must identify and punish these evil actors if they don’t want to be part in their demise.
Did your “source” read you this email, he continued, rounding on O’Donnell. Did you care to inquire as to whether the passports were really taken?
The journalist had previously stated that the FBI did not hold the passports of the former president Trump, according a DOJ official.
“If any things taken during the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago that were not specified in the order will be returned.”
Earlier on Monday, Trump vented his anger over the raid on his Truth Social account. Wow, he wrote.
My three passports, one of which was expired, were taken during the FBI or Mar-a-Lago search along with everything else.
This attack on a political rival is at a level that has never been seen in our nation. The Third World.
He said that since people are “so outraged at what is happening,” he has volunteered to do “everything he can” to defuse the escalating tensions.
People are furious about what is happening, he added.
Anything we can to assist, since the nation’s temperature has to be lowered.
If not, awful things would occur, he said.
The citizens of our nation will not tolerate another con.
FBI officials searched boxes of materials at Trump’s Florida property on Monday and removed 11 sets of top-secret papers, pictures, and other information.
According to the federal search order, FBI investigators removed 27 cartons of papers in all.
One particular item included in the agents’ list of things seized is a “Executive Grant of Clemency: Regarding Roger Jason Stone Jr., a former Trump advisor who received a pardon in the last days of his administration, and “information regarding the President of France.”
The list also contains categories with broader definitions, such as “Various classified/TS/SCI materials.”
The acronym “TS/SCI” in the context of national security often refers to Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information, which is only accessible to people with the highest level of clearance.
The receipt also lists four sets of “top secret” papers, three sets of “secret,” and three sets of “confidential” documents, although it doesn’t say what those sets included.
Trump’s legal team maintained that he had the authority to declassify the records before leaving office since he was the president.
Additionally, Trump wanted the return of papers that were taken by the FBI and claimed they were protected by the attorney-client privilege.
On Sunday, he said, “Oh terrific! It has just come to light that the FBI intentionally should not have seized boxes of confidential “attorney-client” and “executive” documents during its now-famous raid on Mar-a-Lago.
The records should be sent to his Palm Beach residence, he said, and the FBI should treat his post on the alternative social media platform as an official request.
I respectfully request that these papers be promptly returned to the place from which they were removed,’ Trump said on Sunday. “By copy of this TRUTH.” Thanks a lot.
The raid on Monday was a component of a longer-running inquiry into the papers Trump took with him from the White House.
At the conclusion of each presidential administration, all such papers are required to be handed over to the National Archives and Records Administration in accordance with the Presidential Records Act.
The National Archives will be given “custody, management, and preservation” of the documents after a president leaves office. The statute designated all presidential and vice presidential records to be the property of the federal government.
Trump gave the Archives 15 cartons back earlier this year. However, during a day-long search on Monday, agents searched areas in and around Trump’s private residence as well as storage areas at Mar-a-Lago, removing more items.
The FBI has noted an increase in threats made against the agency and well-known individuals on social media since the raid.
Responses included the common phrase “Lock and load” and demands that Garland and even federal officers be killed.
One user going by the name of Stephen posted on the antisemitic and white nationalist social media platform Gab that he was waiting for “the call” to conduct an armed uprising.
“Just one call is all it takes.” And millions will arm themselves and retake our nation. The post stated that it would be over in less than two weeks.
Let’s get this going, a different Gab user pleaded. The GESTAPO raid by this illegal, unelected government went too far! It is past time to purge American society of the liberal socialist filth!
The FBI’s director since 2017, Christopher Wray, stated last week that “violence” against FBI and Department of Justice personnel “is not the answer.”
According to Fox News, authorities keeping an eye on social media posts have noticed a marked increase in threats made against FBI employees, Director Christopher Wray, and Attorney General Merrick Garland.
On Wednesday, Wray said, “I am always concerned about threats to law enforcement.” ‘Violence against police enforcement is not the solution, no matter who you’re furious with.’