That raid was a POLITICAL hit job.

https://redstate.com/smoosieq/2024/05/24/new-unsealed-docs-in-trump-mar-a-lago-case-further-reveal-how-ludicrous-the-raid-was-n2174601

NEW: Unsealed Docs in Trump Mar-a-Lago Case Further Reveal Just How Ludicrous the Raid Was

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In August 2022, the FBI did not believe that it was necessary to raid Mar-a-Lago. See Ex. 1 at USA-00940268. In an August 1 internal FBI email, Special Agent [redacted] wrote that “DOJ/FBI would respectfully request Former President Trump’s cooperation via Mr. [redacted]” via a “Consensual Search.” Id. According to Steven D’Antuono, who was the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office at the time, the FBI’s preference in “dealing with cases like this” was to seek consent from [redacted]. D’Antuono Interview at 23. D’Antuono “firmly believed” that “the best scenario would have been consent,” for “the FBI, for former President Trump, and for the country.” Id. D’Antuono took that position in “emails” that were “written back and forth” but have not been produced. Id.; see also id. at 24 (D’Antuono confirming that he “put in a communication that [he] had some concerns about not doing the normal protocol of . . . attorneys working together”). 

DOJ and the FBI appear to have debated this issue during, for example, an August 1, 2022, meeting at “FBIHQ” regarding “Search Warrant Discussion.” Compel Mot. Ex. 34. On August 3, Deputy Assistant Attorney General George Toscas and Jay Bratt participated in a follow-up call with agents from the FBI’s Washington Field Office regarding the warrant. See Compel Mot. Ex. 35 at USA-00940276. According to an email regarding the call, Toscas stated “that ‘he frankly doesn’t give a damn about the optics’” of the unprecedented raid, and the group discussed how “Bratt already has built an antagonistic relationship with FPOTUS’s attorney . . . .” Id. Ultimately, Attorney General Garland “personally” approved the raid."