Lindsey Halligan, a former President Donald Trump attorney stationed in Florida, talked with CBS News about the FBI investigation while at Mar-a-Lago. Here’s her account of what happened:
At before 10 a.m. Monday, Halligan got word that FBI investigators had arrived at Trump’s Palm Beach estate, Mar-a-Lago, with a search warrant.
She was the second Trump lawyer to arrive on the site, about 11 a.m., after the search began. Christina Bobb, a former TV anchor on the extreme right OAN Network, was already present.
Halligan estimated that 30-40 FBI agents performed the search over the following eight hours. A few donned suits, while the majority wore t-shirts, cargo trousers, masks, and gloves. Halligan thinks about 10-15 FBI cars, including a Ryder truck, entered and left the site.
She didn’t observe any boxes or papers being carried onto the truck, but she didn’t deny that FBI agents removed evidence from Mar-a-Lago — she simply didn’t see it.
According to CBS News, the FBI did confiscate boxes and paperwork from Mar-a-Lago, but no gadgets. According to two sources, some, if not all, of the papers are possibly classified material.
In mid-January, the National Archives and Papers Administration acquired 15 boxes of records from Mar-a-Lago, some of which included classified information. The search on Monday appeared to be related to the Justice Department’s probe.
Halligan claims she and Bobb were banned from entering the complex and were forced to stay outside, on the grounds of Mar-a-Lago, between the ballroom and the home.
The FBI separated the search into three locations, according to Halligan: a bedroom, a storage space, and an office.
She said that she talked with Trump, who expressed surprise over the FBI investigation. He said that he believed he had cooperated with the investigators’ requirements. He informed Halligan that the Justice Department has an open channel of communication with his counsel and that he has asked them to send over relevant papers if they have them. She said that the previous president expressed worries about the Biden administration’s misuse of power.
Officials in the United States affirm that the search of Trump’s house was authorized at the highest levels of the Justice Department. Attorney General Merrick Garland, on the other hand, is not anticipated to make any public remarks regarding the inquiry or the search.
Halligan said the search warrant was sealed, and she didn’t know what types of records the FBI may be searching for or what kinds of documents Trump kept at Mar-a-Lago since she hadn’t been involved in this portion of Trump’s legal portfolio until Monday.
Despite this, she said that the government’s search was “an abhorrent show of misuse of authority – utter overkill.” She further said that “They might have requested for documentation if they required them. There has never been a problem with compliance.” Halligan described the search as a “big surprise.”
The search crews completed their job at 6:30 p.m.