FBI Violated Mar-a-Lago Warrant to Rifle Through Melania's Bedroom

Even with a broad and unprecedented search warrant, FBI agents did not adhere to the terms of warrant by rummaging around the bedrooms of Mrs. Trump and Barron Trump.

There is much to make—and much more to come—about recent disclosures related to the FBI’s nine-hour armed raid of Mar-a-Lago on August 8, 2022. 

Most of the current controversy revolves around the Department of Justice’s authorization to use deadly force if necessary that day. Despite widespread outrage that Joe Biden’s DOJ included the language in the pre-raid operations plan, some former federal officials and self-styled conservative “influencers” continue to defend the move as merely representing “standard operating procedure”—as if a similar situation exists in U.S. history to bolster such a brazen claim.

But of course no aspect of the unprecedented, unnecessary, and potentially dangerous raid to allegedly recover classified papers from Donald Trump’s sprawling estate was normal. And dispute over the legality of the warrant and how the raid was conducted is beginning to unfold under the side-eye of U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon in southern Florida.

The Trump-appointed judge is presiding over Special Counsel Jack Smith’s espionage and obstruction indictment against the former president and two co-defendants. But things are going from bad to worse for the special counsel, as I explained here; the case is imploding amid disclosures of mishandled and misplaced evidence and rising discord between Cannon and Smith’s prosecutors.

After asking one of Smith’s prosecutors to “calm down” during a hearing last week, Cannon this week warned Smith that sanctions might be the next step if he continues to violate court rules related to the filing of motions, something she has repeatedly cautioned the special counsel’s office about.

Smith is particularly perturbed that Cannon is thwarting his relentless attempts to keep government motions and evidence under seal, which prompted last week’s news about the use of deadly force policy in the FBI’s raid plan. Cannon recently authorized the unsealing of Trump’s motion to suppress evidence collected during what his attorneys described as the “unconstitutional raid” of Mar-a-Lago. 

The motion included a standard FBI form called a “law enforcement operations order” that agents had prepared in advance of the raid; the document revealed explosive details about the FBI’s plans such as instructing agents to arrive in street clothes without any identifying logo and to carry weapons, ammunition, and handcuffs. (More here.)

But the motion also provided evidence that the 30-plus armed, incognito agents violated the terms of the search warrant by rifling through the bedrooms of former First Lady Melania Trump and the couple’s only child, Barron, who was 16 at the time.

Gross Violation of the Warrant and the Former First Family’s Privacy

In an August 5, 2022 affidavit, an unidentified Washington FBI special agent asked a judge to authorize the search based on suspicions that Trump was hiding national defense records at his estate. The agent cited grand jury testimony when witnesses identified a few specific areas of Mar-a-Lago where boxes had been stored: the White and Gold Ballroom, a storage room and adjoining room, an entryway and anteroom for Trump’s personal suite, and his office.

Florida Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart signed the warrant over WhatsApp, an encrypted messaging platform, that same day with the following instructions:

“The locations to be searched include the ‘45 Office,’ all storage rooms, and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by FPOTUS and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate. It does not include areas currently (i.e., at the time of the search) being occupied, rented, or used by third parties (such as Mar-a-Largo Members) and not otherwise used or available to be used by FPOTUS and his staff, such as private guest suites.”

But that’s not what agents did.

According to an FBI photo log, agents took 43 pictures of the “Former First Lady master bedroom suite” and an additional 30 pictures of what is described as “Binder from Former First Lady’s bedroom.”

Agents also took 26 photos of “child’s bedroom suite lower level.”

Unsurprisingly, not a single illegal was found in either location.

Another Dirty Trick by the DOJ

Smith, however, insists the agents followed the terms of the warrant. In his May 24 motion seeking a gag order to prevent Trump from publicly criticizing agents involved in the case after Trump referred to the lethal force authorization as an attempted assassination plot, Smith said the FBI “conducted the search in an entirely proper manner.” (She denied his motion.)

“‘The warrant authorized the agents to search all ‘rooms or areas’ available to be used by’ Trump where documents could be stored…which included rooms used by family members (emphasis added).”

What kind of lunacy is that? Does Smith really expect Cannon to believe the former president kept government papers including national defense material in his teenage son’s bedroom? Or that he hid nuclear secrets in Mrs. Trump’s armoire?

And if so, why didn’t the FBI agent present those suspicions to Judge Reinhart when seeking the warrant?

Confirmation that agents rummaged around Mrs. Trump’s private space—even boasting about their antics in the bedroom of the “former first lady” rather than use a basic description such as “private suite”—is just the latest scandal tied to this cratering case.

Cannon. for her part, is unlikely to overlook yet another instance of the DOJ breaching professional conduct and the rules to get what it wants. She has not yet ruled on the motion to suppress the Mar-a-Lago evidence and could potentially schedule a hearing into the matter, which undoubtedly will produce more examples of malfeasance before and during the raid.

What will the defenders say then?