Last March the Washington Post published an exclusive story about the behind the scenes arguments that took place prior to the search of Mar-a-Lago. The gist of the piece was that DOJ prosecutors, led by Jay Bratt, were eager to get a search warrant and have the FBI carry out an unannounced raid. This all came to a head during an early August meeting where the head of the FBI’s Washington, DC field office, Steven D’Antuono, pushed back.
Steven M. D’Antuono, then the head of the FBI Washington field office, which was running the investigation, was adamant the FBI should not do a surprise search, according to the people…
Tempers ran high in the meeting. Bratt raised his voice at times and stressed to the FBI agents that the time for trusting Trump and his lawyer was over, some of the people said. He reminded them of the new footage suggesting Trump or his aides could be concealing classified records at the Florida club.
D’Antuono and some fellow FBI officials complained how bad it would look for agents with “FBI” emblazoned on their jackets to invade a former president’s home, according to some people with knowledge of the meeting…
Later, D’Antuono asked if Trump was officially the subject of the criminal investigation.
“What does that matter?” Bratt replied, according to the people.
As we all know, the DOJ got their way. D’Antuono was ordered to have agents search Mar-a-Lago and they did so, though without the blue and yellow FBI jackets agents often wear.
D’Antuono has since retired and today NBC News published its own exclusive version of the story, recounting the same meeting between the FBI and DOJ prosecutors which preceded the search. NBC’s version seems to be based mostly on D’Antuono’s recollections and it has a different flavor from the earlier Post story. This time we learn there was concern at the FBI field office that the DOJ’s approach might be motivated by politics.
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— Read More: hotair.com
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