Say it ain’t so
The Washington Post reports that FBI agents argued with prosecutors over the Mar-a-Lago search saying that there was no need for a warrant after the president assured the DOJ that all the classified documents had been found back in June. Yeah, how did that turn out?
Prosecutors argued that new evidence suggested Trump was knowingly concealing secret documents at his Palm Beach, Fla., home and urged the FBI to conduct a surprise raid at the property. But two senior FBI officials who would be in charge of leading the search resisted the plan as too combative and proposed instead to seek Trump’s permission to search his property, according to the four people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a sensitive investigation.
Prosecutors ultimately prevailed in that dispute, one of several previously unreported clashes in a tense tug of war between two arms of the Justice Department over how aggressively to pursue a criminal investigation of a former president. The FBI conducted an unprecedented raid on Aug. 8, recovering more than 100 classified items, among them a document describing a foreign government’s military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities.
Starting in May, FBI agents in the Washington field office had sought to slow the probe, urging caution given itsextraordinary sensitivity, the people said.
Some of those field agents wanted to shutter the criminal investigation altogether in early June, after Trump’s legal team asserted a diligent search had beenconducted and all classified records had been turned over, according to somepeople with knowledge of the discussions.
The idea of closing the probe was not something that was discussed or considered by FBIleadership and would not have been approved, a senior law enforcement official said.
This account reveals for the first time the degree of tension among law enforcement officials and behind-the-scenes deliberations as they wrestled with a national security case that has potentially far-reaching political consequences.
The disagreements stemmed in large part from worries among officialsthat whatever steps they took in investigating a former president would faceintense scrutiny and second-guessing by people inside and outside the government. However, the agents, who typically perform the bulk of the investigative work in cases, and the prosecutors, who guide agents’ work and decide on criminal charges, ultimatelyfocused on very different pitfalls, according to people familiar with their discussions.
On one side, federal prosecutors in the department’s national security division advocated aggressive ways to secure some of the country’s most closely guarded secrets, which they feared Trump was intentionally hiding at Mar-a-Lago; on the other, FBI agents in the Washington field office urged more caution with such a high-profile matter, recommending they take a cooperative rather than confrontational approach.
I’ll let Peter Strzok explain why this is totally bizarre.
An astonishing article. In 20 years of working cases involving classified information, I never – not once – encountered prosecutors who wanted to get a search warrant and reluctant – even refusing! – agents. The other way around, sure.
The article points to a damning fear in the FBI stemming from political fear, not from fact.
“The FBI agents’ caution also was rooted in the fact that mistakes in prior probes of Hillary Clinton…had proved damaging to the FBI”
Really? Name one. I’ll wait.
“Some of those field agents wanted to shutter the criminal investigation altogether in early June, after Trump’s legal team asserted a diligent search had been conducted and all classified records had been turned over”
How’d that work out?
Oh, right, Trump still had 100+ docs.
Trump, Barr, Durham, and others successfully chilled the FBI’s willingness to investigate anything related to Trump.
The FBI handled Trump with unprecedented kid gloves, afraid to follow the facts for fear of political blowback, delaying the investigation for months.
“They also heard from top FBI officials that some agents were simply afraid”
You know what would go a long way to erasing that fear?
Leadership that protected agents from political blowback, allowing them to do their job.
Originally tweeted by Pete Strzok (@petestrzok) on March 1, 2023.
I would suggest this actually indicates that there are some very loyal Trumpers in the FBI. Surprised? I’m not. And like so many others (Mike Pence, please answer the white courtesy phone) the more Trump degrades them the more they love him. Sure, maybe they were afraid. But I’d guess quite a few just didn’t want to see Dear Leader sullied. Again.