Donald Trump’s spokesman publishes email from DOJ official showing FBI DID seize passports

Donald Trump has furiously called for the immediate release of the ‘completely unredacted’ affidavit that sanctioned the FBI raid on his Florida mansion.

The former president said it was ‘in the interest of transparency’ the document be made public following the ‘horrible and shocking break-in’ at Mar-a-Lago.

He slammed the ‘very large number of gun toting FBI agents’ who entered his home and demanded the judge who authorized the search warrant recuse himself.

It comes after his spokesman shared an email from an official in the DOJ appearing to admit the bureau did seize his passports when they raided the house.

Taylor Budovich shared the message from the National Security Division’s Jay Bratt apparently saying two expired passports and an active diplomatic one were taken.

He hit back at CBS news anchor Norah O’Donnell who earlier said a source in the DOJ had told her the FBI did not have his documents.

Trump furiously blasted the DOJ throughout Monday for an ‘assault on a political opponent’ by taking the documents, meaning he could not leave the country.

The former president has been battling back since he announced his Palm Beach residence was raided by federal agents last week.     

Donald Trump’s spokesman has shared an email from an official in the DOJ appearing to admit the bureau did seize his passports when they raided his Mar-a-Lago home

It comes after CBS news anchor Norah O'Donnell said a source in the DOJ had told her the FBI did not have his passports

It comes after CBS news anchor Norah O’Donnell said a source in the DOJ had told her the FBI did not have his passports

Taylor Budovich shared the message from the National Security Division's Jay Bratt apparently saying two expired passports and an active diplomatic one were taken

Taylor Budovich shared the message from the National Security Division’s Jay Bratt apparently saying two expired passports and an active diplomatic one were taken

He took to his Truth Social account late on Monday night to demand the affidavit be ‘completely’ released.

He wrote: ‘There is no way to justify the unannounced RAID of Mar-a-Lago, the home of the 45th President of the United States (who got more votes, by far, than any sitting President in the history of our Country!), by a very large number of gun toting FBI Agents, and the Department of ”Justice”

‘But, in the interest of TRANSPARENCY, I call for the immediate release of the completely Unredacted Affidavit pertaining to this horrible and shocking BREAK-IN.’

Budovich had hours earlier shared the email exchange with Bratt on his Twitter account in another late-night post by the Trump team.

The message read: ‘We have learned that the filter agents seized three passports belonging to President Trump, two expired and one being his active diplomatic passport. We are returning them.’

Budovich said: ‘This is how Fake News works, folks. Biden admin actively feeds half truths & lies that the media willingly amplifies—advancing a partisan narrative to attack Trump.’

He added in a statement to Fox: ‘This is a perfect example of how the vital institutions of media and justice are being destroyed from within by the lazy, the corrupt, and the ill intent.

‘Sadly, it’s not going to be fixed from the outside. It’s up to the remaining good people within these institutions to expose these bad actors and hold them accountable, or else be complicit in their destruction.’

He also rounded on O’Donnell, adding: ‘Did your ”source” read you this email? Did you bother asking if they indeed seized the passports?’ 

The journalist had earlier tweeted: ‘According to a DOJ official, the FBI is NOT in possession of former President Trump’s passports.

‘If any items not contained in the warrant were retrieved during the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago, they will be returned.’

Donald Trump claimed his passports were 'stolen' in the FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago last week

Donald Trump claimed his passports were ‘stolen’ in the FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago last week

Melania Trump arrives at Trump Tower in New York on Monday in a pants suit, Chanel bag and face mask

Melania Trump arrives at Trump Tower in New York on Monday in a pants suit, Chanel bag and face mask

In all, FBI agents took 27 boxes of documents when it raided Mar-a-Lago last week, according to the federal warrant

In all, FBI agents took 27 boxes of documents when it raided Mar-a-Lago last week, according to the federal warrant

The 'Receipt for Property' lists items seized, including an 'Executive Grant of Clemency: Re Roger Jason Stone Jr' - a former Trump adviser who was pardoned in the last days of Trump's presidency - 'info re: President of France ' and a 'handwritten note'

The ‘Receipt for Property’ lists items seized, including an ‘Executive Grant of Clemency: Re Roger Jason Stone Jr’ – a former Trump adviser who was pardoned in the last days of Trump’s presidency – ‘info re: President of France ‘ and a ‘handwritten note’

Trump earlier on Monday took to his Truth Social account to post a series of livid comments on the raid.

He wrote: ‘Wow. In the raid by the FBI or Mar-a-Lago, they stole my three Passports (one expired), along with everything else.

‘This is an assault on a political opponent at a level never before seen in our country. Third World.’

Earlier on Monday he told Fox he has offered to do ‘whatever he can’ to fix the simmering tensions because people are ‘so angry at what is taking place’. 

Federal law enforcement agencies are warning of ‘an increase in threats and acts of violence’ directed at FBI personnel after agents executed a search warrant on Trump’s Florida home.

Days after the raid, a man who posted regularly on Trump’s Truth Social site tried to breach the FBI’s Cincinnati field office in Ohio, armed with an AR-15 style rifle and a nail gun. He fled the scene and was later killed in a standoff. 

On social media, there has been increased chatter about a civil war and threats of violence against FBI agents.

 

Trump also told Fox News Digital he had his representatives reach out to the DOJ to offer assistance as outrage in his base ensues over the FBI’s raid.

‘People are so angry at what is taking place,’ Trump told Fox when asked about reaching out.

”Whatever we can do to help—because the temperature has to be brought down in the country. If it isn’t, terrible things are going to happen.’

The former president added: ‘The people of this country are not going to stand for another scam.’

Trump’s comment on Monday that it is an ‘assault on a political opponnet’ reflects a strategy adopted by him and his family, as they have gone on the defense, where they have accused President Joe Biden of having ordered the raid.

The White House said the president found out about the raid from public reports.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said he ‘personally approved’ the raid, which was part of a federal investigation into documents Trump took with him after he left the White House.

According to federal law, any presidential records are the property of the federal government.

Melania Trump at Trump Tower in New York on Monday

Melania Trump at Trump Tower in New York on Monday

Garland did not give any additional details about the investigation but said the Justice Department requested the warrant and inventory list be made public due to the high level of public interest in the investigation.

And the White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Sunday that President Biden hasn’t been briefed on it at all. 

‘Not been briefed. We have not interfered,’ she said on ABC’s This Week. 

During Monday’s raid of Trump’s Florida home, FBI agents took 11 sets of classified documents, photographs and other files marked ‘top secret’ among boxes of items. 

In all, FBI agents took 27 boxes of documents, according to the federal warrant.

The inventory of items taken by the agents includes some specific items, including an ‘Executive Grant of Clemency: Re Roger Jason Stone Jr’ – a former Trump adviser who was pardoned in the last days of Trump’s presidency –  and ‘info re: President of France.’

The list also includes more generic labels like ‘Various classified/TS/SCI documents.’ In the national security world, the ‘TS/SCI’ abbreviation generally refers to Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information – available only to those with the highest level of clearance.

Also listed are four sets of ‘top secret’ documents, three of ‘secret’ documents and three sets of ‘confidential’ documents, but the receipt offers no further information about what they contained. 

Lawyers for Trump insist that as president he had the power to declassify the documents before leaving office. 

Trump also has accused the FBI of taking documents that fall under attorney-client priviledge and demanding their return.

‘Oh great! It has just been learned that the FBI, in its now famous raid of Mar-a-Lago, took boxes of privileged ‘attorney-client’ material, and also ‘executive’ privileged material, which they knowingly should not have taken,’ Trump said Sunday on Truth Social.

He said that the FBI should consider his post on the alternative social media site his formal request that the documents be returned to his Palm Beach estate.

‘By copy of this TRUTH,’ Trump wrote on Sunday, ‘I respectfully request that these documents be immediately returned to the location from which they were taken. Thank you!’

Monday’s raid was part of a longer-running investigation into documents Trump took with him when he left the White House. 

Under the Presidential Records Act, all such documents must be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration at the end of each presidential administration.

The law declared all presidential and vice presidential records property of the federal government, with ‘custody, control and preservation’ of the records delegated to the National Archives when a president leaves office. 

Trump returned 15 boxes to the Archives earlier this year. But, on Monday, in a day-long search, agents went through storage space at Mar-a-Lago and areas in Trump’s personal residence, removing more material.

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