House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is demanding copies of Department of Justice (DOJ) documents concerning the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid after being told by a senior FBI official involved in the action’s planning and execution about multiple “unusual features” and “abnormalities” involved.
“Everything is on the table,” said a committee spokesman when asked by The Epoch Times if a subpoena and potentially an additional contempt charge against FBI Director Christopher Wray or other top [DOJ] officials could result if the documents demanded in Jordan’s June 9 letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland aren’t produced. Jordan has been pressing Garland and Wray for related documents for months but has yet to get them.
The abnormalities of the Mar-a-Lago raid were described to congressional investigators during a June 7 transcribed interview with Steven D’Antuono, the FBI’s former assistant director in charge of the Washington Field Office and, according to the Jordan letter, “one of the most senior FBI officials in charge of effectuating the unprecedented raid.”
“During his testimony, Mr. D’Antuono expressed strong concerns with the department’s pursuit of the raid and noted several unusual features in the department’s handling of the case,” Jordan told Garland. “Mr. D’Antuono, who had over two decades of FBI experience, noted his frustration that the FBI was going to be ‘left holding the bag again’ with respect to the search of President Trump’s residence.
“During his transcribed interview, Mr. D’Antuono detailed how he disagreed with the Justice Department’s approach to the raid and described several abnormalities about the Department’s actions in pursuing its investigation of President Trump.”
Among the abnormalities described by D’Antuono was the fact the Mar-a-Lago action was carried out by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, not the Miami Field Office, which would normally be assigned because of the Mar-a-Lago location.
D’Anuono, according to Jordan, told the committee that “FBI headquarters made the decision to assign the execution of the search warrant to the Washington Field Office (WFO) despite the location of the search occurring in the territory of the FBI’s Miami Field Office. Mr. D’Antuono stated that he had ‘absolutely no idea’ why this decision was made and questioned why the Miami Field Office was not taking the lead on this matter.”
