Trump and the FBI
This month, the FBI searched the premises of ex-President Trump’s home for documents that belonged to the American people and were supposed to be held by National Archives. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fbi-seized-top-secret-documents-from-trumps-mar-a-lago-estate They recovered about 20 boxes of documents, including a number of documents labeled with the highest classifications of government secrecy. https://www.npr.org/2022/08/12/1117277865/read-the-full-warrant-documents-from-fbi-search-of-trumps-mar-a-lago-home
The background to the FBI’s ordinary-yet-extraordinary search is detailed in the Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/13/trump-mar-a-lago-search/ In the aftermath of the failed January 6 insurrection, Trump packed up to leave the White House in a big hurry; he took with him many documents that belonged to the American people and were supposed to be turned over to the National Archives; he then slow walked and sought to block the efforts of the National Archives to retrieve them, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/13/us/politics/trump-classified-material-fbi.html Trump apparently has been intimately involved in every step of the way from selecting the files to take, to seeking to bar their return and to prevent their review by the FBI to assess the impacts on our national security. https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-reportedly-oversaw-collection-classified-mar-lago-docs-rcna44568
When the FBI and the National Archives recovered the first 15 boxes in January, 2022, they discovered that they contained quite a lot of classified, top secret and confidential information that Trump had taken, and that many of the documents were still missing and unaccounted for. They returned in June with a federal grand jury subpoena and collected many more boxes of material, including those marked classified, confidential, and top secret. https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/11/politics/mar-a-lago-search-subpoena-latest/index.html Trump’s attorney(s) claimed and certified in writing in June 2022 to the top Department of Justice counter-intelligence official that there were no other materials being held by Trump at Mar a Lago. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/13/us/politics/trump-classified-material-fbi.html The FBI and National Archives discovered there were still many other missing materials relating to US national security that had not been turned over, so they returned in August with a judicially issued search warrant to search the premises where they recovered many more highly sensitive missing documents.
In the aftermath of the successfully executed search warrant at Mar a Lago, ex-President Trump and his Congressional and media allies launched political attacks on the FBI, claiming that the search of Mar a Lago was politically motivated, emblematic of a banana republic, and designed only to embarrass and deny the ex-President the opportunity to make a 2024 Presidential run. https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3598395-fbi-pushes-back-against-attacks-over-trump-search-amid-worries-about-violence/ Attorney General Garland defended the FBI, took personal responsibility for the warrant, and asked the court to release the warrant request and the items recovered pursuant to the warrant. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/11/garland-defends-mar-a-lago-search-fbi-trump-00051193
When it appeared that nuclear secrets and other top secret national security documents had been at risk and threats to the safety of federal law enforcement were escalating in alarming fashion, some GOP leaders toned down their attacks on federal law enforcement. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/12/us/politics/republicans-fbi-trump-search.html And ex-Vice President Pence has cautioned his fellow party members about their intemperate attacks on the FBI. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/mike-pence-tells-gop-to-stop-lashing-out-at-fbi-over-mar-a-lago-search
Representative Liz Cheney forewarned “I have been ashamed to hear members of my party attacking the integrity of the FBI agents involved with the recent Mar-a-Lago search,” Cheney wrote on Twitter. “These are sickening comments that put the lives of patriotic public servants at risk.” https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3597610-cheney-slams-sickening-gop-attacks-on-fbi-agents-involved-with-trump-search/ In responding to Trump’s invective, one of the ex-President’s stalwart supporters attacked the FBI office in Cincinnati, my hometown, and died in a gun fight in the aftermath. https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/12/us/fbi-cincinnati-office-armed-suspect-what-we-know/index.html
The reactions of Trump and his acolytes to the warrant have been scattershot and incoherent since the FBI search warrant had caught them by surprise. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/21/trump-mar-a-lago-search-00052976 In essence, Trump wants to use the episode to raise his political profile with his base for a 2024 run for the Presidency; his lawyers want to know what’s up with the investigation of Trump and the treasure trove of top-secret government documents which he is not supposed to have in his possession and was denying were in his possession, and they desperately want to identify the witnesses against him. https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/25/politics/trump-maralago-documents-private-concerns-legal-tom-fitton/index.html Trump had over 300 classified documents in his possession that have been recovered thus far. https://www.reuters.com/legal/over-300-classified-documents-recovered-trumps-florida-home-ny-times-2022-08-23/ Trump has been trying for months to block FBI access to the initial trove of documents recovered in January 2022. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/23/national-archives-letter-trump-security-00053250 He would have been far better served his own interests by simply and quietly returning the documents to the National Archives at any time over the past year and a half. Instead he chose the path of threats of the potential for violence by his supporters, just as he did in the lead up to January 6.
In the latest news, it appears that there are many important classified documents still missing from their folders. https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-mar-a-lago-government-and-politics-6bd103a8e418166b17a34d77e8d9102d It is now unclear whether the FBI has recovered all the national security documents that Trump took with him when he left the White House in January 2021.
The potential armed violence directed at federal law enforcement is being ramped up by right wing extremists egged on by Trump and his allies. It is incumbent on law enforcement not to turn a blind eye to their violent rhetoric and its rising potential for domestic terrorism nor to over-react. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/08/19/fallout-mar-a-lago-search-00052799 Attorney General Garland has taken precisely the right stance of unflinching support for federal law enforcement without demonizing and riling up Trump and his allies. The judge in this case has just ordered the Department of Justice to release the redacted version of the affidavit used by the FBI to secure court approval for the search warrant of the Mar a Lago premises. https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/25/politics/trump-mar-a-lago-fbi-raid/index.html The redacted version may help dispel some conspiracy theories being promoted by Trump and his supporters without putting at an increased risk of physical harm and harassment the FBI agents, the witnesses they already have interviewed, and the staff at the National Archives. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/read-the-full-redacted-affidavit-the-fbi-used-as-a-basis-for-mar-a-lago-search
Noted American historians are privately warning President Biden that these are increasingly perilous times for the survival of our American democracy. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/10/biden-us-historians-democracy-threat/ Attorney General Garland and the FBI have acted with great care, courage and incredible diligence in a vitally important matter of national security that Trump should have never allowed to get to this point.