The FBI's Mar-a-Lago Search Stemmed from an Informant: Report
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Joe Raedle/Getty. Inset: Zach Gibson - Pool/Getty Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. Inset: Donald Trump.
The FBI's search of Donald Trump's home at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, may have stemmed from an informant, according to new reports by Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal reports that "a senior Justice Department national security supervisor and three FBI agents" visited Mar-a-Lago on June 3, specifically "to discuss boxes with government records sitting in a basement storage room along with suits, sweaters and golf shoes."
That visit, the Journal adds, was cordial, with Trump himself telling agents: "I appreciate the job you're doing. Anything you need, let us know."
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Days later, the officials followed up with Trump's attorneys, with explicit instructions to install a stronger lock on the storage room door and to preserve the documents within. Trump, meanwhile, had reportedly assured the officials he had no additional classified materials.
But the saga didn't end there, with the outlet claiming that, weeks later, "someone familiar with the stored papers told investigators there may be still more classified documents at the private club."
Newsweek's reporting echoes that of the Journal, citing two government officials who said that a "confidential human source ... was able to identify what classified documents former President Trump was still hiding and even the location of those documents."
By June 22, the investigation had taken a new turn, with the Journal reporting that the Trump Organization "received a subpoena for surveillance footage from cameras at Mar-a-Lago" (footage it said was ultimately turned over).
Two months after their first visit to the private Palm Beach club, agents were back — this time with a search warrant.
While the FBI conducted its search of the property Monday — which reportedly focused on Trump's office and personal quarters — the former president was in New York City inside Trump Tower.
The controversy surrounding Trump's storage of potentially classified documents isn't new. In January, when he left office, the National Archives and Records Administration inquired about missing records, ultimately retrieving 15 boxes of documents that Trump had brought to Mar-a-Lago.
A letter from former President Barack Obama left for his successor was among the items that had been packed up in boxes and taken to Florida, according to The Washington Post. Other correspondence with world leaders — including what Trump previously called "love letters" from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — was also reportedly retrieved.
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The Mar-a-Lago search relates to one of two known investigations underway by the Justice Department, which is also looking at the former president's role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and alleged efforts by Trump and his supporters to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election that Joe Biden won.
