In t-shirts, skinny jeans and without weapons: new details about the raid on the Trump mansion

According to a report, the search happened following a tip about additional classified documents illegally located on the property.

The agents focused on three rooms - a bedroom, an office and a storage room, one of the sources said. By the end of the day, the agents had loaded about ten full boxes, several sources said.

The boxes were delivered to the FBI's Miami field office

news agencies

11/08/2022

Thursday, August 11, 2022, 12:57 p.m. Updated: 1:07 p.m.

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The FBI's raid on former President Donald Trump's Florida estate on Monday was prompted by a tip to investigators about the possibility of additional classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, the Wall Street Journal reported today (Thursday).

In January, the former president had to return about 15 boxes full of documents he took out of the White House upon his departure, to the National Archives - as required by law.

However, after receiving the tip in June, suspicion arose that additional materials that had not been returned were at the luxury property - and that Trump's representatives had not been completely honest with the investigators, according to a source close to the matter.

According to the report, FBI and Justice Department investigators met on June 3 with Trump's lawyers at Mar-a-Lago and asked for more information about classified material taken to the estate after Trump left the White House.

The meeting was held in good spirits and the lawyers cooperated with the agents, and according to Trump aides, the former president even came to the meeting and shook hands with the agents.

"I appreciate the work you are doing," he said according to a source.

"Let us know about anything you need," Trump said.

Five days later, Trump's lawyer, Evan Corcoran, received an email from the Justice Department asking him to change the lock installed in the room where the documents were stored to a larger one.

Corcoran complied and the lock on the room was changed a day later.

This was the last communication between the parties until the raid, the source told the Wall Street Journal.

It wasn't until after the June meeting that "a source familiar with the matter told investigators that there was a possibility that more classified documents were stored at the property," the Journal reported.

On June 22, Trump received a warrant to hand over the security camera footage from the mansion.

The request was also granted, according to an official.

During the raid, Trump was in New York (Photo: Reuters)

On the morning of August 8, new agents arrived at the mansion and began looking for documents.

The search warrant, signed by a Palm Beach County judge, addressed the possibility of a violation of the law regarding classified documents.

The FBI agents were instructed to be as careful as possible during the search of the home, wearing civilian clothes and not carrying weapons, according to sources.

The Secret Service was briefed on the raid, and Trump's lawyers were then briefed.

At the mansion itself, the FBI requested several things, according to one of the sources, including a diagram of the grand mansion, as well as turning off the security cameras on the property for the agents' safety.

Dressed in T-shirts and carrying DMV assets, the agents focused on three rooms - a bedroom, an office and a storage room, said one of the sources. The search was not published in the media and was revealed only after a tweet by a blogger from Florida and after the statement issued by Trump himself.

By the end of the day, the agents had loaded about ten full crates, several sources said.

The boxes were delivered to the FBI's Miami field office.

It was also reported that in the days since the raid, Trump contacted lawyers to see if they would represent him in the matter, a sign of fear of new legal troubles.

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