Questions Arise about Mar-a-Lago Raid

Former Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, “expressed strong concerns with the Department’s pursuit of the raid on Mar-a-Lago"

by Jennnifer Van Laar, RedState.com, June 9, 2023

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a four-page letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Friday expressing grave concerns with the indictment of Donald Trump and again requesting documents and information related to the raid at Mar-a-Lago that the DOJ has refused to provide to the committee.

The letter begins by reminding Garland that Trump is “Biden’s chief rival in the upcoming presidential election” and a reference to the double standard created by the failure to prosecute Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified information (emphasis mine):

The Biden Department of Justice is reportedly about to indict a former president and President Biden’s chief rival in the upcoming presidential election. According to reports, the Department will indict President Donald Trump, despite declining to indict former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her mishandling of classified information and failing to indict President Biden for his mishandling of classified information. The indictment creates, at the minimum, a serious appearance of a double standard and a miscarriage of justice—an impression that is only strengthened by allegations that a Biden Justice Department lawyer “inappropriately sought to pressure” a Trump-affiliated lawyer with the prospect of a judgeship. Additional information
recently obtained by the Committee about the Department’s execution of a search warrant on President Trump’s residence only reinforces our grave concerns that your reported actions are nothing more than a politically motivated prosecution.

Jordan then informs Garland about points made in a transcribed interview of Steven D’Antuono, former Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, held on June 7. D’Antuono, who has more than 20 years’ law enforcement experience, “expressed strong concerns with the Department’s pursuit of the raid and noted several unusual features in the Department’s handling of the case,” according to Jordan.

Those “unusual features” are:

1. The Miami Field Office did not conduct the search
2. The Department did not assign a U.S. Attorney’s Office to the matter
3. The FBI did not first seek consent to effectuate the search
4. The FBI refused to wait for President Trump’s attorney to be present before executing the search

The committee requested, again, the following from the Department of Justice, and gave a deadline of June 16:

1. All documents and communications referring or relating to meetings between FBI and Justice Department officials prior to the execution of the search warrant on President Trump’s private residence;
2. All documents and communications referring or relating to the execution of a search warrant on President Trump’s private residence, including those sent or received by the following FBI and Justice Department Officials:
   a. Paul Abbate,
   b. Matthew Olsen,
   c. Jay Bratt,
   d. George Toscas,
   e. Steven D’Antuono; and
3. All documents and communications between or among Washington Field Office agents and employees and the U.S. Secret Service about a potential search of President Trump’s residence

Jordan ended the letter by reminding Garland of the Committee’s jurisdiction over the Department of Justice related to oversight.

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