FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors flipped back and forth for months on the best strategy to retrieve classified documents from former President Donald Trump, ultimately leading to a high-profile raid that drew nationwide criticism.
Prosecutors uncovered evidence that Trump was knowingly holding secret documents at his home in Florida and began asking the FBI to conduct a surprise raid early on in May 2022, but two senior FBI officials viewed the plan as too combative, per a report from the Washington Post. They proposed asking Trump for his permission to search Mar-a-Lago, according to four officials close to the investigation.
Justice Department officials eventually won the battle, with the FBI conducting an unprecedented search of the former president’s home on Aug. 8 that resulted in the discovery of more than 300 classified documents. Similar documents have been found inside the personal residences of President Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence.
The National Archives sent a referral to the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate missing classified records that they suspected were in Trump’s possession. Boxes received in January from Trump revealed 184 classified documents, prompting them to suspect more were at Mar-a-Lago.
In April, the FBI and prosecutors were met with resistance from Trump’s lawyers as they attempted to prevent the bureau from reviewing the records, alerting officials that he may be hiding something. Investigators interviewed Trump’s associates and staff, who confirmed that there were more boxes at Mar-a-Lago.
Disputes over the intensity of the documents’ retrieval then began in May, with the FBI Washington field office’s agents hoping to slow the investigation or shut it down altogether, seeking to take Trump’s legal counsel at its word that all of the classified papers had been given to the National Archives.
However, one senior law enforcement said the idea of closing the investigation was not discussed by FBI leadership and would never have been approved.
On June 3, FBI agents visited Mar-a-Lago and collected an envelope with 38 more classified documents, and Trump’s lawyer Christina Bobb signed a letter asserting that there were no more documents in the former president’s possession.
However, following that visit, federal prosecutors asked the FBI to dig deeper and gather more evidence, as well as obtain security footage from the Florida estate, after some agents suggested shutting down the investigation.
Agents and Justice Department officials ultimately grappled over how much scrutiny and backlash the departments would receive after opening an investigation of this magnitude.
Federal prosecutors were concerned about possible breaches in national security and supported taking aggressive action, suggesting that the FBI failing to handle Trump in the same way it had with other government employees’ classified documents cases could be damaging.
On the other hand, FBI agents who were worried about the political blowback from such a high-profile situation, given that it was the home of a former president, and wanted to take a more cooperative approach. The agency particularly pointed to mistakes made in prior investigations of Hillary Clinton and Trump that led to partisan attacks, officials said.
Prosecutors learned that some agents were worried about the damage to their careers if they were found to be investigating Trump. Steven D’Antuono, who headed the FBI Washington field office at the time, was not a supporter of the surprise search, stating that it would not look good to have the FBI invading a former president’s home, according to the four anonymous officials.
The investigation proved to be unusual given the Justice Department’s level of involvement, which has been subjected to severe scrutiny by most Republicans and some Democrats. Attorney General Merrick Garland personally approved the search of Mar-a-Lago.
While some officials argued that infighting delayed chances for prosecutors to develop criminal charges, others said the timeline allowed them to gather more evidence and create a solid investigation.
Special counsel Jack Smith was appointed by Garland to handle the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into both the classified documents and the referrals from the House Select Committee on Jan. 6, 2021.
