{"id":2521876,"date":"2025-12-16T17:28:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T22:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/docs-fbi-believed-it-lacked-probable-cause-to-raid-mar-a-lago\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T17:29:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T22:29:53","slug":"docs-fbi-believed-it-lacked-probable-cause-to-raid-mar-a-lago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/docs-fbi-believed-it-lacked-probable-cause-to-raid-mar-a-lago\/","title":{"rendered":"Docs: FBI Believed It Lacked Probable Cause To Raid Mar-A-Lago"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdocs-fbi-believed-it-lacked-probable-cause-to-raid-mar-a-lago%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2521876&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Newly revealed emails indicate that the FBI did not believe it had probable cause to raid former President Donald Trump&#8217;s Mar-a-Lago residence in 2022 but proceeded with the search under pressure from the Department of justice during Joe Biden&#8217;s administration. The emails,released by Senator Chuck Grassley&#8217;s office,show FBI and DOJ officials expressed doubts about the strength and corroboration of evidence for the search warrant. Concerns were raised that little had been established regarding mishandling of classified documents,and FBI officials suggested that a conversation with trump&#8217;s attorney might have been a better approach. Despite these uncertainties and worries about the search&#8217;s optics,the DOJ maintained it had probable cause and expanded the scope of the warrant. The raid took place on August 8, 2022, leading to Special Counsel jack Smith bringing charges against Trump related to classified documents. However,Smith&#8217;s prosecution was dismissed after a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wisconsin-supreme-court-takes-up-trump-lawsuit-days-ahead-of-electoral-college-vote\/\" title=\"Wisconsin Supreme Court Takes Up Trump Lawsuit Days Ahead of Electoral College Vote\">judge ruled<\/a> his appointment unconstitutional.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/whitehouse45\/33638029748\">joyce N. Boghosian\/Trump White House Archives\/Flickr<\/a>\/<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/deed.en\">Public Domain<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/16\/docs-fbi-believed-it-lacked-probable-cause-to-raid-mar-a-lago-but-it-did-so-anyway\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Docs:%20FBI%20Believed%20It%20Lacked%20Probable%20Cause%20To%20Raid%20Mar-A-Lago%20But%20Did%20So%20Anyway&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/16\/docs-fbi-believed-it-lacked-probable-cause-to-raid-mar-a-lago-but-it-did-so-anyway\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Docs:%20FBI%20Believed%20It%20Lacked%20Probable%20Cause%20To%20Raid%20Mar-A-Lago%20But%20Did%20So%20Anyway&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/16\/docs-fbi-believed-it-lacked-probable-cause-to-raid-mar-a-lago-but-it-did-so-anyway\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/16\/docs-fbi-believed-it-lacked-probable-cause-to-raid-mar-a-lago-but-it-did-so-anyway\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Docs:%20FBI%20Believed%20It%20Lacked%20Probable%20Cause%20To%20Raid%20Mar-A-Lago%20But%20Did%20So%20Anyway&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/16\/docs-fbi-believed-it-lacked-probable-cause-to-raid-mar-a-lago-but-it-did-so-anyway\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>The FBI did not believe it had probable cause to raid President Donald Trump&rsquo;s Mar-a-Lago residence in 2022, but did it anyway after pressure from then-President Joe Biden&rsquo;s Department of Justice, according to newly uncovered emails.<\/p>\n<p>Emails <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/fbi_production_to_chairman_grassley_-_mal_search.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">released<\/a> by Sen. Chuck Grassley&rsquo;s office show that officials at the FBI and DOJ communicated about FBI concerns about the warrant in the months leading up to the August raid.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1565644697\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In one June 1 email an unidentified FBI assistant special agent in charge wrote to FBI official Anthony Riedlinger, &ldquo;Very little has been developed related to who might be culpable for mishandling the documents.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;[FBI Washington Field Office] has been drafting a Search Warrant affidavit related to these potential boxes, but has some concerns that the information is single source, has not been corroborated, and may be dated. DOJ CES opines, however, that the SWs meet the probable cause standard.&rdquo; The same agent described the &ldquo;potential boxes&rdquo; as &ldquo;presumably of the same type as were sent back to NARA [National Archives and Records Administration] in January.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Notably, the unnamed FBI official said that while they &ldquo;continue[d] down the path towards a search warrant, WFO believes that a reasonable conversation with the former President&rsquo;s attorney (stating that the FBI and DOJ are readying a search warrant, and have developed information that there are more documents at Mar a Lago), ought not to be discounted.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A separate email (sent weeks after the aforementioned, on July 13) to Robert Stuart Sinton, Lisa R. Gentilcore, and Anthony Riedlinger from a redacted official states: &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t generated any new facts, but keep being given draft after draft after draft. Absent a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-had-doubts-about-probable-cause-for-mar-a-lago-raid-emails-show\/\" title=\"... had doubts about ... cause for Mar-a-... ..., ... show\">witness coming forward<\/a> with recent information about classified on site, at what point is it fair to table this?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Another email dated July 29 noted that the scope of the search was being &ldquo;widened.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Another redacted email sent on July 20 shows the FBI&rsquo;s Washington Field Office did &ldquo;not believe (and has articulated to DOJ CES) that we have established probable cause for the search warrant for classified records at Mar a Lago. DOJ has opined that they do have probable cause, requesting a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >wide scope including residence<\/a>, office, storage space. &hellip; Continued investigation and additional interviews have not found any witness who has reported seeing classified records at Mar a Lago since the return of records via [Redacted] compliance on June 3, 2022.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In fact, FBI officials were purportedly worried about the optics of executing such an uncertain search warrant.<\/p>\n<p>According to an Aug. 4 email from an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/secret-service-agents-claim-white-house-lied-about-dog-attack-story\/\" title=\"Secret Service ...s Claim White House Lied About Dog Attack Story\">unidentified agent<\/a>, then-Deputy Assistant Attorney General George Toscas said in a meeting that he &ldquo;frankly doesn&rsquo;t give a damn about the optics&rdquo; of the search warrant despite concerns of FBI officials and their apparent desire to execute the warrant in &ldquo;a professional, low key manner.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I understand that this request may not go well at DOJ, however, it is FBI serving and executing the search and it will be our personnel who will have to deal with the reaction to that first contact,&rdquo; the email from the unidentified agent reads. <\/p>\n<p>The FBI <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/12\/trump-slated-to-sue-doj-over-unprecedented-mar-a-lago-raid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">raided<\/a> Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8. Special Counsel Jack Smith then brought charges against Trump stemming from the raid as part of Democrats&rsquo; &ldquo;get-Trump&rdquo; lawfare. Smith alleged Trump mishandled classified documents. Smith&rsquo;s prosecution against Trump was <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/15\/judge-in-docs-case-throws-out-dojs-lawfare-against-trump-rules-jack-smiths-appointment-unconstitutional\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dismissed<\/a> last July after <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/04\/court-rejects-orchestrated-campaign-to-remove-judge-cannon-from-docs-lawfare-case\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Judge Aileen Cannon<\/a> found his appointment unconstitutional, as then-Attorney General Merrick Garland lacked the authority to appoint Smith.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/aileen-cannon\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Aileen Cannon<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/doj\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">DOJ<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/fbi\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">FBI<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/jack-smith\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Jack Smith<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Joe Biden<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/lawfare\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">lawfare<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/mar-a-lago\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Mar-a-Lago<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/mar-a-lago-raid\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Mar-a-Lago raid<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/merrick-garland\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Merrick Garland<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image Credit Joyce N. Boghosian\/Trump White House Archives\/Flickr\/Public Domain Share The FBI doubted probable cause but raided Mar-a-Lago in 2022 under DOJ pressure<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2521877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/33638029748_c5e7892c7e_h-e1765917665894.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[50645,3976,33211,7075,68929],"class_list":["post-2521876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-fbi-2","tag-investigation","tag-legal-news","tag-mar-a-lago","tag-probable-cause"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/33638029748_c5e7892c7e_h-e1765917665894.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2521876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2521876"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2521876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2521880,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2521876\/revisions\/2521880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2521877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2521876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2521876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2521876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}