Newly declassified emails paint a far more conflicted picture behind the FBI’s 2022 raid of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, revealing internal concern over whether agents had enough evidence to justify such a dramatic step.
According to Fox News, records reviewed by Fox News Digital show that, in the months leading up to the August 2022 search, FBI officials repeatedly questioned whether probable cause existed to raid the Florida residence.
Despite those doubts, the search went forward amid pressure from the Biden Justice Department.
In one key email exchange, an FBI assistant special agent in charge acknowledged that investigators had not identified a clear culprit for the alleged mishandling of documents.
“Very little has been developed related to who might be culpable for mishandling the documents,” the official wrote to another FBI leader, Anthony Riedlinger.
The same email noted that investigators believed there “may be additional boxes” of documents at Mar-a-Lago but warned that the information supporting a search warrant was weak.
“WFO has been drafting a search warrant affidavit related to these potential boxes, but has some concerns that the information is single-source, has not been corroborated, and may be dated,” the official wrote. “DOJ CES opines, however, that the SW’s meet the probable cause standard.”
Rather than a raid, FBI officials floated alternatives, including direct communication with Trump’s attorneys.
“Even as we continue down the path towards a search warrant, WFO believes that a reasonable conversation with the former president’s attorney… ought not to be discounted,” the official added.
As weeks passed, frustration within the bureau grew. One agent wrote that investigators were cycling through drafts without gaining new evidence.
“We haven’t generated any new facts, but keep being given draft after draft after draft,” the agent said, questioning whether it was time to pause without new information supporting probable cause.
Another email was even more direct.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office “did not believe (and has articulated to DOJ CES) that we have established probable cause for the search warrant for classified records at Mar-a-Lago,” an agent wrote.
Despite those concerns, Justice Department officials pushed forward with a broad search. FBI personnel warned the move could be “counterproductive” and urged “less intrusive” options.
Planning for the raid continued anyway. An Aug. 4, 2022, email detailed how the warrant would be executed, stressing professionalism and discretion.
That same message referenced comments from then-Deputy Assistant Attorney General George Toscas.
“Since we heard Mr. Toscas say yesterday in the call that he ‘frankly doesn’t give a damn about the optics,’” the agent wrote, concerns mounted that the operation would escalate tensions rather than resolve them.
The FBI ultimately searched in August 2022 as part of an investigation into Trump’s alleged retention of classified materials after leaving the White House.
Subsequent court filings revealed agents were authorized under standard Justice Department policy to use deadly force if necessary and arrived equipped with weapons, ammunition, handcuffs, and bolt cutters, though instructed to keep equipment concealed.
Agents also seized documents potentially protected by attorney-client and executive privilege, triggering disputes over how those materials were handled. Trump’s attorneys said they were barred from observing the search and raised concerns about how agents distinguished personal records from presidential materials.
Trump was later charged by Special Counsel Jack Smith and pleaded not guilty to all counts. The charges were ultimately dropped after Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
