Experts blast FBI after bombshell report reveals agents were 'afraid' to raid Mar-a-Lago

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Legal experts are blasting the Federal Bureau of Investigation after a bombshell Washington Post exclusive report reveals some FBI agents were “afraid” to raid Mar-a-Lago and some wanted to simply shut down the criminal investigation, delaying for months the retrieval of classified documents that Donald Trump had unlawfully retained and refusal to return.

“Months of disputes between Justice Department prosecutors and FBI agents over how best to try to recover classified documents from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club and residence led to a tense showdown near the end of July last year,” The Post reports.

“Prosecutors ultimately prevailed in that dispute,” and the “FBI conducted an unprecedented raid on Aug. 8, recovering more than 100 classified items, among them a document describing a foreign government’s military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities.”

Two senior FBI officials wanted to ask Trump’s permission to go to Mar-a-Lago to search the ex-president’s resort and residence, despite having video evidence that appeared to show a trove of presidential documents being moved from a storage room after Trump was directed to return the items, including classified documents, that had been taken from the White House.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bullying-worked-experts-blast-fbi-after-bombshell-report-reveals-agents-were-afraid-to-raid-mar-a-lago/ar-AA186ia4

[Ray Bruns]

1. May I suggest a new FBI seal?

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS1010US1010&hl=en-US&sxsrf=AJOqlzXEK2pXFmkrpxr2dnozQhQHnJisAQ:1677692962802&q=brave+sir+robin+shield&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj3uNuopbv9AhUYFFkFHYrdD98Q0pQJegQICRAB&biw=390&bih=669&dpr=3#imgrc=4ZLtMB3ZTt5epM

[Walleye]

2. Whose side is the deep state on again?

This is what they’re arguing about even though they have videotape of him obstructing justice with impunity

[Comfortably_Numb]

3. JFC. That is all.

[republianmushroom]

4. Some light reading

Merrick Garland Weighed Search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago for Weeks

Source: Wall Street Journal

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142956907

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/merrick-garland-weighed-search-of-trumps-mar-a-lago-for-weeks-11660601292

[dchill]

11. Good stuff.

[underpants]

5. Unbelievable

[dchill]

8. Oh, I believe it.

[electric_blue68]

6. Oh, geeeebz. He's NOT a King, and he Took classified items that Weren't his to take.

Do your damn jobs!

[BComplex]

7. And Garland has failed to clean out the FBI ....why? And Biden has failed to fire Chris Wray..WHY?

WTF? Are these FBI agents independent republican contractors, or do they serve and defend the constitution of the United States? They've already picked a side, looks like to me.

[hadEnuf]

23. Why is ANYBODY from the Trump administration still serving in government?

[Evolve Dammit]

27. Excellent questions

[treestar]

54. the warrant was served

it was only said that some did not want to, but they did not prevail, so this hand wringing is not necessary.

[Silent3]

81. The ones who objected caused months of delays

That is not an insignificant problem to be ignored. It is not a problem solved by eventually prevailing.

[moondust]

9. 'Afraid' or MAGAt protectors?

[newdayneeded]

10. I think this scared reaction

starts right at the top......Garland. He's trying to run the clock out, hoping donny dies soon.

[calimary]

37. Count me among the gravely disappointed.

The evidence is ALL THERE, Merrick. WTF are you waiting for? It’s been TWO YEARS! SURELY by now you’ve found enough reason to prosecute. What gives? Afraid he’s gonna yell at you or something?

[newdayneeded]

40. Not only did trump steal classified docs

he gleefully fucking admitted at the podium.

[gratuitous]

12. One more time for the folks in the back

The FBI didn't "raid" Trump's criminal lair, they executed a search warrant. I don't know why this simple fact can't quite make it into the reporting on this matter, but I have my suspicions for why the media continue to accept without question Trump's framing.

[Shipwack]

14. Agree, 1000%, though I doubt the media will comply...

“Raid” is much more exciting to say/print.

But still, we need to push back against this phrasing; it’s designed to make TFG more sympathetic.

[yardwork]

13. The FBI seems to be deeply compromised.

They had a Russian spy in the New York office, for instance.

[gab13by13]

15. Yes it is,

that is why the Government Accountability Agency recommended that Garland and Wray investigate the intelligence failures on J6, neither Wray nor Garland did an investigation. Wray even lied about the intelligence to Congress.

Bottom line; Garland is an institutionalist, he is afraid of finding corruption that will tarnish DOJ and the FBI.

Look at the Secret Service, we know members of the SS were complicit and yet an Inspector general cleared them of wrongdoing.

Senate Republicans are blistering Garland right now at the Senate hearing and he is backing down, just like he backed down last year before another Senate committee, can't appear to be partisan.

[ancianita]

31. Re the " Bottom line; Garland is an institutionalist, he is afraid of finding corruption that will

tarnish DOJ and the FBI."


Yes, still an institutionalist, but no, not afraid. The Mar-a-Lago search shows that Garland as AG had seen the threat level to democracy clearly, and changed to meet it.

We saw Garland go head on with "no one is above the law" more than people thought he would -- the same people who've said he was doing little to nothing about the Jan 6 Trump circle before he appointed Jack Smith, which, if they'd done homework, would know is not true. He blew past an imagined norm about warrant searching the house of a former president. Garland basically said at the post-search presser, “I take credit for doing this. This was my decision, and we're calling out Trump.” Then came the filings and famous photo of gov. docs on the floor. Not soft on Trump's legal team, and asserting DOJ arguments at "due process" court levels and winning. Garland has proven by his actions, and legal actions, that no one is above the law. Repubs can "blister" him all they want; it's the tell to Garland that he's solidly enforcing rule of law.

As for a corrupt FBI, he'll let Wray "handle" that for a while.

[DENVERPOPS]

34. Good one GAB

I think people would be appalled to learn just how deeply the MAGAts have infiltrated countless Government Organizations.
We could start with the Alphabet ones: FBI USSC DOJ etc........
Hell, while the J6 insurrection was happening, it was more than apparent that the TrumpHumpers had comrades in the Capitol Police, The DC Police, The Secret Service to name a few. And you need to include the upper crust of leaders of Gov't agencies, including the National Guard, that failed to do anything but sit on their thumbs and watch.........

[Justice matters.]

44. Not surprising if Faux Nee-use is blasting lies everywhere they go...

at the office, at bars, restaurants, airports...

The MAGA propaganda is insidious.

[onecaliberal]

21. What does that say about the agency that should be investigating them and holding them accountable.

Fire Garland before it's too fucking late. It probably already is.

[ancianita]

32. Come ON. All this chronic FUD over Garland? Come ON.

[Justice matters.]

45. If tfg is not held accountable for the insurrection by November 2024

it will be very hard to motivate the Democratic Party's base to GOTV.

[ancianita]

49. IF. I take it you're in the "I'll believe it when I see it" crowd.

Is every OP about the FBI going to be some springboard for the FUD caucus here?

[Justice matters.]

53. scott perry's phone case will go through appeals all the way to the SC.

How long will that "delay" impede the insurrection case against hair furhair?

[ancianita]

55. Don't blame the AG or DOJ for the impediments of "due process."

[Silent3]

58. I'm glad you put "due process" in scare quotes

Some people think they’re due a whole lot more “process” than the rest of us, and so far they’re having a good laugh at how right they’ve been.

[ancianita]

61. They don't get due process as a choice; they get the full extent of due process the law allows.

I put in the quotes because they exploit due process when they know the likely ultimate ruling. But they're still entitled to the full extent. It does feel like justice delayed, but it's part of justice for all.

[Silent3]

62. If not everyone gets it, only people with expensive teams of lawyers...

...then that's only justice for some.

Besides that, let's not pretend that everything established by the long, twisted, often inconsistent history of jurisprudence really is necessary or even compatible with justice. Who gets what considerations and extensions and delays is hardly a matter of plug-in formulas with strict rules.

There are a lot of value judgments that are made by prosecutors and judges which, just because they happen to benefit an elite defendant, aren't necessarily a demonstration of reasonable due process. Sometimes it's just part of an unfair rigged game.

[ancianita]

64. IF.

One can have an attorney appointed for them. All defendants get counsel whether or not they can afford counsel.

Call it rigged? So does Trump.

[Silent3]

65. What on earth does your response have to do with what I just said?

We're talking about a lot more than whether someone gets an attorney or not.

[ancianita]

67. So put your point in one sentence. Because apparently I don't get it.

[Justice matters.]

60. "due process" would have started at least a year earlier...

But since he's a banana republican politician with "connections" they "hesitate" to apply the law and "enforce" it fast enough (at least they started in August last year, 18 months after the coup).

[ancianita]

63. Here's just the Garland timeline of Jan 6 investigations, grouped by month.

THE GARLAND DOJ TIMELINE:

Mar 10 2021: Merrick Garland confirmed as AG by Congress
Mar 11 2021: AG Garland assumes office

Apr 21 2021: Deputy AG Lisa O. Monaco assumes office

May 11 2022: DOJ Criminal Grand jury convened until March 2024

June 3 2022: DOJ Grand jury subpoenas Trump for remaining docs in Mar-a-lago, "certifying" that there were no more

July 22 2022: Grand jury testimony by Marc Short & his counsel Greg Jacob

Sept 2 2022: Grand jury subpoenaed testimony by Pat Cipollone, (one of the participants in
a) WH meeting Dec 18 2020, that included Giuliani, Powell, Flynn, Patrick Byrne of Overstock,
b) Cipollone sat in on Jan 3 2021 DOJ official meeting with Trump, and
c) Cipollone was in direct contact with trump on Jan 6 during capitol insurrection, and did nothing when Meadows told him that Trump didn’t want to interfere with rioters calling for hanging Mike Pence)
and Patrick Philbin
Sept 15 2022: Mark Meadows subpoena for testimony and documents
Sept 2022: Garland DOJ has issued over 30 subpoenas to people close to Trump, which include
— Bill Stepien, DT’s campaign mgr; part of team to prevent certification
— Sean Dollman, DT’s campaign CFO
— Ben Williamson, Depty of Mark Meadows,
— Boris Epshteyn, DT’s lawyer, phone demanded; part of team to prevent certification
— Mike Lindell, phone seized
— William Russell, WH spec. asst to Trump, spec. aide to Trump in Maralago

Oct 6 2022: Greg Jacob second time, testified before the grand jury
Oct 13 2022: Marc Short second time, testified before the grand jury

Nov 4 2022: classified docs found in
-- Biden’s Wilmington home (garage, library), (no docs in Rehoboth beach home) and
-- Penn Biden Center in DC (Richard Sauber is spec counsel to Pres Biden)
Nov 14 2022: Garland asks John Lausch (Trump appointed US Atty, Chicago) to review found Biden documents

By Nov 18 -- when Jack Smith assumed Special Counsel -- Garland's DOJ had charged and convicted
800 + Jan 6 insurrectionists

From Nov 18 2022 - Mar 1 2023,
-- Special Counsel Smith has subpoenaed over 33 White House and Trump inner circle subjects; presumably they have testified.
-- two criminal grand juries have been and will continue to be in operation until March 2024.

I don't know who you claim is a banana republican politician, though.

And none of the FBI focus of the OP should be used as a springboard for bad mouthing AG Garland -- chosen by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate less than two years ago.

[Justice matters.]

66. ALL GOOD but there's a big gap between

April 21, 2021 and May 11 2022.

I know they were busy going after and prosecuting the foot soldiers, but the DoJ staff is composed of more than 9,200 attorneys. I guess they couldn't find some with time on their hands to handle the coup organizers like, I don't know, August 2021?

Any way, Fani Willis will shame them all.

[ancianita]

68. 20 days is a big gap? You don't know who the real coup organizers were. Look at the timeline of

Garland's subpoenas again. Those were not foot soldiers.

Fani Willis' prosecution scale is 1/100 that of the DOJ, at the very least.

You really are unfairly distorting and drawing a false equivalence to say that her relatively small scale state investigation will shame the biggest law firm on Earth that's tackling the first and largest series of sedition cases in U.S. history.

[Justice matters.]

70. 20 days? THERE's more than a full year between??

More like 380 days. The actual DOJ sucks, IMHO.

[ancianita]

73. oof, sorry. I missed the years you call a "gap." And you're serious, I'm sure. However,

only in your mind is there a gap.

When you fail to consider the scale of what Garland had to restructure after Barr left, and you fail to consider the monumental bottom-to-top scale of what the DOJ had to tackle about Jan 6 -- the first a structural and political legal mess, the other an illegal mess -- in less than two years, it's too bad you think the DOJ sucks. That's entirely on you.

[Justice matters.]

74. Garland would have been a GREAT Supreme Court Judge.

But he is not a great A.G. (he sounds "weak&quot .

He "hesitated" to go after a (now) civilian who stole TOP-SECRET NATIONAL SECURITY documents detailing nuclear weapons secrets, and identifying agents and informers abroad we don't know how many of them are still alive FFS... If that doesn't make him a WEAK AG, I don't know what does!!

[ancianita]

75. Duly noted.

[dalton99a]

22. +1

[uponit7771]

42. +1, ... that and MINIMUM they should've conveyed a higher level of alert on J6

[Grasswire2]

76. wray's law firm's ties to Russian interests

[link:https://ttps://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/06/08/trump-new-fbi-director-chris-wray-russian-ties-rosneft-gazprom-column/102603214/|


Donald Trump's new FBI director pick has Russian ties of his own
Christopher Wray looks good on paper, but his law firm represents Russian-controlled oil companies.
Kenneth F. McCallionOpinion contributor

Christopher Wray
On paper, Christopher Wray appears to be an excellent choice to serve as the next FBI director. He has "impeccable" academic credentials (Yale law school) and has had a decades-long distinguished career as a federal prosecutor and high-level official in the Department of Justice. As the criminal defense lawyer for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie during the “Bridgegate” investigation, he did raise some eyebrows when it was learned that one of Christie’s “missing” cellphones mysteriously ended up in Wray’s possession, but this is unlikely to derail Wray’s confirmation.

[Grins]

16. These the same guys House Republicans just accused..

…of concealing they had Hunter Biden’s laptop before the 2020 election, and are not trustworthy…?

[progressoid]

20. Yep. If you listen to RW media, the FBI is full of left wing zealots.

[Evolve Dammit]

29. And they control the airwaves. There is no Dem counter. WTF??

[fightforfreedom]

17. It's all a conspiracy, we are all doomed.

Everyone is corrupt, including the prosecutors. Nothing is going happen. I hope I am wrong, but if i'm not wrong I can tell people I told you so. Signed, defeatist.

[Silent3]

25. This inaction doesn't require a conspiracy

It does show, once again, that we have a deeply ingrained culture of treating wealthy, powerful, and well-connected people differently. Conspiracy isn't needed when these attitudes and interests are shared.

This also makes a good case for the perception that the pace of the DoJ investigating Trump is not slowed down only by arcane, complex, time-consuming-but-diligent processes that we mere mortals can't possibly understand.

None of us can know for certain until this saga is well hashed-out in history books, history books that might not be written before many of us here are dead, but it is a very well justified suspicion that fear and reluctance are a big part of why, not just because of the FBI, but due to all aspects of this country's legal system, Trump and his cronies have not yet faced any consequences for insurrection and countless other crimes, and most certainly are not guaranteed to face consequences.

[treestar]

52. it just says that some of them were afraid

but the action was carried out.

[Silent3]

56. After delay, after resistance

This shows suspicion these that theses matters are going more slowly than they should are justified.

[DENVERPOPS]

36. Do you recall

When Trump and Hillary were debating and Hillary said: There is a huge Right Wing Conspiracy?
Even some Dems were laughing at her seemingly exaggerated statement......bet they aren't laughing now!!!!!!!!!!!

[ancianita]

18. See? Weak on living up to their own oaths. Said it before & will say it again: the FBI is full of

right wing pro-Republican bias -- asking Trump's permission -- at the expense of equality of enforcement under rule the law -- WTF.

[onecaliberal]

19. But, but, but, we just have to wait. The I's and T's, so much hard work.

[hadEnuf]

24. The insurrectionist GOP is laughing at Garland.

Maybe it's time to replace the paper tiger with a wildcat?

[Evolve Dammit]

30. I agree completely. Fuck the optics. FDR and Truman didn't fucking care.

[hadEnuf]

33. The GOP is quickly devolving into a pack of deranged fascist animals.

They don't understand optics nor do they give a shit about them. The only thing they do understand is brute force, power and everything that goes with it.

They don't need to be dealt with. They need to be defeated.

[Evolve Dammit]

57. agreed

[newdayneeded]

38. No, theyre getting hefty 2 and 3 month

sentences handed down to them. I'm heartbroken at how emboldened they'll be the next time around by the very weak action by the DOJ.

they will bring guns galore next time.

[hadEnuf]

47. Hate to say it, but we may have to bring our own guns galore at some point.

The lack of enforcement and accountability, coupled with the organizers, enablers and sycophants still walking free or actually holding government office may leave us little choice in the near future.

Sentences that have put these animals in prison with their own kind to influence and recruit, along with other slap on the wrist sentences, will not deter a thing.

These vermin should be terrified of Garland but instead they are strutting around giggling with each other over him.


We needed a wildcat to go after these terrorists from the get go. Garland may be quite smart but the intimidation factor is zero.

[halfulglas]

26. I guess one question not answered in this article (although I haven't read whole thing) is

Do they still feel that way AFTER they retrieved the quantity of documents that they did, not to mention the new reality that there are still documents missing, PLUS, this new stuff about the documents copied to thumb drive and laptop? We have no idea of how much more classified information has been disseminated to unknown locations or people. Does the FBI now admit that this is a serious problem?

[Justice matters.]

46. I suspect the #1 beneficiary to be Putin.

The #2 beneficiary to be MB$.

[Grasswire2]

77. good question! nt

[Silent3]

28. But we tried saying "please", and after a month or two we escalated to "pretty please"...

...but gosh, these prosecutors were so damned impatient and wanted to recklessly rush past the "pretty, pretty please" and "pretty, pretty, pretty please with sugar on top" phases of the process!

[Ligyron]

50. Friend, you win the interweb today!

[Sky Jewels]

35. FBI, Secret Service, etc. are rotten to the core.

[Sogo]

39. Time to thin the herd....

Determine what agents are more loyal to TFG than the Constitution, and bid them farewell.

[YoshidaYui]

41. AFRAID??

What? DOES Donald Trump have his own personal army with Tanks on the compound? If it were any one else, they be in prison long by now.

[hadEnuf]

48. Maybe they are afraid of what will happen to them if Trump or one of his acolytes takes power again.

Or maybe they are afraid of what will happen to them now, because the FBI and law enforcement are still loaded with Trump supporters.


Either that or they simply support the treasonous bastard.

[YoshidaYui]

59. Let Frank Feglusi do it!

He is a dedicated Fbi ex agent

[twodogsbarking]

43. Stink index needle at full.

[treestar]

51. "some"

of them.

What were they afraid of? Being overwhelmed by orange dye?

[betsuni]

69. Trump's the mob/Putin and I don't blame anybody who's afraid.

[Kid Berwyn]

71. FBI gone MAGA

Helping and protecting Putin’s Poodle helps Putin.

[RussBLib]

72. Some FBI "inclined to believe Trump"

As Lawrence O'Donnell put it tonight, he doesn't believe that. Those agents may have been corrupt, and they may LIKE Trump and want to see him get off scot-free, but no educated FBI agent worth his shit would be "inclined to believe Trump."

Clean house at the FBI, even if it includes Wray.

Totally unacceptable.

[msfiddlestix]

78. Not Shocked, but it is still quite something for the MSM to reveal and confirm what appeared to be

the case and a serious problem with our Justice System in a public mainstream press report.

Wow.



This calls for more Roof Top Howling folks, let's get to it! Ignore the name calling from our peeps accusing us of "whining".

Let 'em know, we're not whining We're howling and they should be too!

[msfiddlestix]

79. Replace the words "Show Down" with 'Slow Down' or amend

the statement.

“Months of disputes between Justice Department prosecutors and FBI agents over how best to try to recover classified documents from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club and residence led to a tense showdown near the end of July last year,” The Post reports.

Should read: led to a tense showdow and a slowdown in recovering documents, delaying investigations for several months.

[RANDYWILDMAN]

80. How could this happen ?

Chris Wray is rich, partisan, federalist republican mother fucker who doesn't want to arrest his own kind !