Sources within the Department of Justice (DOJ) have indicated that a search warrant was executed on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday because an informant alerted the agency about White House documents being kept on the property, some of which are classified.
Newsweek reported the details of how the search came about on Wednesday, citing two government sources with knowledge of the raid.
The informant told government agents details about where Trump was hiding documents on the premises, the sources told the publication. Information about the informant has not been released.
The government officials who spoke to Newsweek revealed that the raid had been planned to take place while Trump was in New York City to avoid creating a spectacle. Agents didn’t want Trump blasting the search — which included around two dozen FBI agents and technicians — in real time, on social media or through official statements. Investigators were also worried about the possibility that Trump would try to forcibly stop the investigation.
Preparations for the raid began several weeks ago, according to the publication.
On Monday, around a dozen boxes were removed by the FBI from Trump’s home in Palm Beach, Florida. According to Newsweek’s sources, the items that were taken included classified documents and national security-related material that Trump wasn’t supposed to take from the White House.
Earlier this year, when the National Archives removed 15 separate boxes of items that had originated from Trump’s time in the White House from Mar-a-Lago, Trump maintained that the boxes didn’t include anything sensitive or classified, and that they were taken in the frenzy to exit the White House on his final day there. The National Archives disagreed with those assertions, and asked the DOJ to investigate in April.
It’s possible that Trump’s removal of those items is in violation of the Presidential Records Act, a federal law that requires all materials written on or handled by the president to be archived. According to one of the DOJ sources that spoke to Newsweek, a federal grand jury that the department convened later that month concluded that a law violation of some kind had occurred. Others have speculated that Trump may have committed additional violations as a result of his mishandling of documents.
During the search, Trump released a statement decrying the investigation as political; in it, he described the search as an indication of “dark times for our Nation,” calling it a “weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024.” Several legal experts, including former federal prosecutor (and current president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) Noah Bookbinder, disagreed with Trump’s comments.
“The FBI could only execute a search warrant if a federal judge found probable cause that a crime was committed and that evidence of that crime would likely be found at the place to be searched…Given that this was the property of a former president, a judge unquestionably took that responsibility very seriously,” Bookbinder said in a tweet. “No one was casual about this.”
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $115,000 in one-time donations and to add 1365 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy