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A CNN guest said that they have an idea of who leaked the warrant to search from President Donald Trump’s private house to the media.
Evan Perez, a CNN senior justice correspondent indicated that he believed former President Trump gave a copy of the warrant to Breitbart News, though he never mentioned the former president or Breitbart by name, Mediaite reported.
He made the accusation when he appeared on “CNN Tonight” and spoke to host Laura Coates, though she said that the names of the FBI agents who signed off on the warrant were public.
“There’s been an unprecedented number of threats in the wake of that search, including threatening against the two agents who signed the court documents,” the host said. “First of all, why do people know the names of those two agents? Because it was supposed to have been redacted.”
“It was redacted. It was redacted by the court when the document was released. However, before it was released by the court, before it was officially released someone – I think we know who – managed to get it to right wing news organizations, and at least one of them published a document in total, including the names of those federal agents who were simply doing their job,” he responded.
“They went there to do their job, and then the former president’s social media platform pushed out that information, so, now it’s everywhere among his supporters,” the guest said. “And of course predictably, those people are now having to be protected because there are threats against them.”
The warrant was unsealed by a federal judge on Friday after details emerged about what it said.
The agents who searched his home uncovered 11 boxes of classified documents, with some marked as “top secret,” The Journal reported.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation agents took around 20 boxes of items, binders of photos, a handwritten note and the executive grant of clemency for Mr. Trump’s ally Roger Stone, a list of items removed from the property shows. Also included in the list was information about the “President of France,” according to the three-page list. The list is contained in a seven-page document that also includes the warrant to search the premises which was granted by a federal magistrate judge in Florida.
The list includes references to one set of documents marked as “Various classified/TS/SCI documents,” an abbreviation that refers to top-secret/sensitive compartmented information. It also says agents collected four sets of top secret documents, three sets of secret documents, and three sets of confidential documents. The list didn’t provide any more details about the substance of the documents.
On Thursday Attorney General Merrick Garland and former President Trump said that they wanted the warrant unsealed, though the team for the former president had to officially say it in court on Friday by 3 PM EDT.
While speaking to reporters at the Department of Justice, Garland announced that the DOJ filed a motion to unseal the search warrant for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property.
Garland said he “personally approved” the matter against the former president.
“Faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy. Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly, without fear or favor,” Garland said.
“Much of our work is by necessity conducted out of the public eye. We do that to protect the Constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect the integrity of our investigations,” he said.
“The search warrant was authorized by a federal court upon the required finding of probable cause,” he told reporters.
“Copies of both the warrant and the FBI property receipt were provided on the day of the search to the former President’s counsel who was on site during the search,” he added.
AG Merrick Garland says he "personally approved" the search warrant.
— Samantha-Jo Roth (@SamanthaJoRoth) August 11, 2022
Hours later the former president emailed to his supporters with a message for Garland in which he demanded the warrant be unsealed.
“Not only will I not oppose the release of documents related to the unAmerican, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago, I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents, even though they have been drawn up by radical left Democrats and possible future political opponents, who have a strong and powerful vested interest in attacking me, much as they have done for the last 6 years,” the former president said.
“My poll numbers are the strongest they have ever been, fundraising by the Republican Party is breaking all records, and midterm elections are fast approaching. This unprecedented political weaponization of law enforcement is inappropriate and highly unethical. The world is watching as our Country is being brought to a new low, not only on our border, crime, economy, energy, national security, and so much more, but also with respect to our sacred elections!” he said.
He ended his email to supporters by saying, “Release the documents now!”
