According to a new report, the FBI was looking for documents that President Donald Trump thought would exonerate him from the Russia collusion claims and election-related charges. The report came from anonymous intelligence officials who leaked to Newsweek.
The FBI collected all of the documents that were government property and used concerns about classified documents to justify the raid, but agents were looking for Trump’s personal stash containing documents related to Russian collusion accusations against him, fearing that he would “weaponize” them, Newsweek reported. One former Trump official said he may have planned to use the documents to help in a presidential run in the coming term.
“Trump was particularly interested in matters related to the Russia hoax and the wrong-doings of the deep state,” the official told the outlet, adding that he may have intended to use the documents in a 2024 presidential campaign. “I think he felt, and I agree, that these are facts that the American people need to know.”
“The true target was these documents that Trump had been collecting since early in his administration,” the source said.
Trump issued a memo on declassifying Crossfire Hurricane documents.
Then President #Trump issued this memorandum 1/19/2021 on declassification FBI Crossfire Hurricane records. Circulated to AG, DNI, CIA. May now be relevant once full holdings from Monday search at Mar-a-Largo catalogued. https://t.co/riiagd8ct6 pic.twitter.com/T8YKrZptS7
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) August 12, 2022
This matches with the prior report from journalist Paul Sperry.
DEVELOPING: Investigators reportedly met back in June w Trump & his lawyers in Mar-a-Lago storage rm to survey docs & things seemed copasetic but then FBI raids weeks later. Speculation on Hill FBI had PERSONAL stake & searching for classified docs related to its #Spygate scandal.
In other words, it sounds like documents that would have shown the case was trumped up against him.
Russia collusion has already been disproven to most sensible people. So I’m not sure whatever the documents are would so much prove his innocence as they might be things that would indicate the guilt of others in plans/efforts against him.
Another new thing in the report from Newsweek is that it refers to 42 boxes “accidentally shipped.” That matches with the prior reports the GSA sent boxes to Trump. If so, that would make it harder to prosecute for things that Trump didn’t even remove.
So add one more report to the story that the raid isn’t exactly about what the FBI has claimed it’s about.
Story cited here.
