OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
One of former President Donald Trump’s attorneys has broken her silence following the “unprecedented” FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Fla., on Monday.
According to attorney Lindsey Halligan, who spoke to the former president after FBI agents arrived Monday morning, Trump was “shocked” by the raid because he had been cooperating with federal officials regarding the return of some materials he took with him after he left office.
Another of Trump’s lawyers on the scene, Christina Bobb, a former One America News Network personality, also said that the warrant she was shown was partially sealed.
According to Fox News, the raid “was in connection with materials that Trump took with him from his time as president.” The outlet quoted other sources who said the “National Archives and Records Administration referred the case to the Justice Department,” and agents “recovered 15 boxes of classified materials from” Trump’s estate, the outlet continued.
In an interview with CBS News, Halligan made the following revelations:
— “Over the next eight hours, Halligan said 30-40 FBI personnel conducted the search. There were a handful dressed in suits, but most wore t-shirts, cargo pants, masks and gloves. Halligan estimates 10-15 FBI vehicles went in and out of the property, including a Ryder truck.”
— “Halligan says she and Bobb were barred from going inside the complex, forced to remain outside, between the ballroom and residence, on the grounds of Mar-a-Lago.”
— “According to Halligan, the FBI divided up the search into three areas: a bedroom, a storage area and an office.”
— “She said she spoke with Trump who expressed shock about the FBI search. He said he thought he’d complied with investigators’ requests. He told Halligan that the Justice Department has an open line to his attorneys and said that he’s instructed them to turn over responsive documents if they have them. She said that the former president raised concerns about abuse of power by the Biden administration.”
Halligan also told CBS News that the warrant was “sealed.”
Bobb, meanwhile, told streaming network Real America’s Voice: “When I arrived and kind of announced myself as the legal representation for President Trump. I asked to see a copy of the warrant.”
“Initially they refused and said, ‘You know, we don’t have to show it to you.’ And there was a little bit of an exchange about whether it was appropriate to withhold the warrant when you’re searching the residence of the former president, who’s likely to be the Republican nominee in the next election, though they conceded and let me see it, they did not give me a copy of it right away, but they did let me see it,” she went on, according to Mediaite.
“It was very, I would say, thin. And as you can tell from public records, the affidavit, the supporting documentation of what the probable cause was to obtain the warrant has been sealed,” Bobb continued.
Mediaite said that several observers opined that Trump and his attorneys likely had a copy of the warrant beforehand but Bobb dismissed those claims.
“So we’re not allowed to see that. We have to go to court to request the judge to release that which, you know, may or may not happen. So we don’t know what the probable cause is, why they were allowed to search, but they did,” she reported.
“They also said that they were looking for classified documents, evidence of a crime as far as classified documents go,” Bobb explained.
“So they were looking for both classified information that they think should not have been removed from the White House as well as presidential records,” she continued, adding that she found it “ironic” for the search as a president can declassify any documents he wants and for any reason.
“It doesn’t really make any sense. And the same thing with any potential classified information, which I don’t believe there was any down there. We had done a search of it before and didn’t find anything noteworthy yet. I’m sure that they’re claiming that there was something terribly egregious, that a grave matter of national security. But we’ll find out,” Bobb said.
She added that she did not believe the FBI would go to any trouble to plant evidence, that instead the bureau would “just make stuff up.”
