FBI Emails Show That Agents Didn’t Believe Probable Cause Existed for Raid on Trump

Newly revealed internal FBI emails reviewed by Fox News show bureau officials did not believe they had established probable cause to search President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in 2022, but moved forward with the raid after pressure from the Biden Justice Department, as reported by The Gateway Pundit.

The FBI executed the search at Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, estate in August 2022, seizing boxes of records from the property.

More than three dozen armed federal agents were involved in the operation. In November 2022, the Justice Department appointed a special counsel to investigate documents stored at Mar-a-Lago.

The search followed visits by the National Archives and Records Administration earlier in 2022, when officials traveled to Mar-a-Lago and demanded the return of presidential records.

Court filings later revealed that the FBI had authorized the use of deadly force during the raid, which was approved by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

After the operation, the FBI released photographs showing documents labeled as classified arranged on the floor of Mar-a-Lago, images that drew national attention and criticism.

According to Fox News, internal FBI correspondence shows agents raising concerns internally about whether probable cause existed to justify the search warrant.

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In one email cited by the outlet, an FBI agent questioned whether the investigation should continue without new evidence.

Received shocking new docs 2day from DOJ & FBI showing FBI DID NOT BELIEVE IT HAD PROBABLE CAUSE to raid Pres Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home but Biden DOJ pushed for it anyway

Based on the records Mar-a-Lago raid was a miscarriage of justice

Read for urself: https://t.co/qbJNT0tcRE pic.twitter.com/ljWdjndhHE

— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) December 16, 2025

“Absent a witness coming forward with recent information about classified on-site, at what point is it fair to table this?” the agent wrote, according to Fox News.

“It is time-consuming for the team, and not productive if there are no new facts supporting PC (probable cause)?”

Another email obtained by Fox News stated that 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.”

Despite those internal assessments, the same email chain reflects disagreement from Justice Department officials.

“DOJ has opined that they do have probable cause, requesting a wide scope including residence, office, storage space,” one FBI agent wrote.

Additional correspondence shows FBI officials discussing how the search should be carried out. One agent wrote that the bureau planned for the raid to be conducted quietly.

“The FBI intends for the execution of the warrant to be handled in a professional, low-key manner, and to be mindful of the optics of the search,” the agent wrote.

Fox News Digital reported that one official involved in the process stated he did not “give a damn about the optics” of the search, according to the newly declassified documents.

Emails reviewed by Fox News Digital also show ongoing uncertainty within the bureau about the evidence supporting the warrant.

In one message, an FBI official serving as an assistant special agent in charge wrote to another official, Anthony Riedlinger, about the state of the investigation.

“Very little has been developed related to who might be culpable for mishandling the documents,” the official wrote.

“From the interviews, WFO has gathered information suggesting that there may be additional boxes (presumably of the same type as were sent back to NARA in January) at Mar-a-Lago.”

The official added that the information supporting the warrant was limited.

“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 email continued.

“DOJ CES opines, however, that the SW’s meet the probable cause standard.”

Even while preparing the warrant, the FBI discussed alternatives to a search.

“Even as we continue down the path towards a search warrant, WFO believes that a reasonable conversation with the former president’s attorney (stating that the FBI and DOJ are readying a search warrant, and have developed information that there are more documents at Mar-a-Lago), ought not to be discounted,” the official wrote.

Not shocking at all. https://t.co/0Y1aXphq0L

— Alina Habba (@AlinaHabba) December 16, 2025

The emails add new detail to internal debates within federal law enforcement ahead of one of the most consequential raids in U.S. history.

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