FBI search followed a subpoena Trump failed to fully comply with

Former President Donald Trump received a subpoena this spring in search of documents that federal investigators believed he had failed to turn over earlier in the year, when he returned boxes of material he had improperly taken with him upon moving out of the White House, three people familiar with the matter said.

[...]

The subpoena suggests that the Justice Department tried methods short of a search warrant to account for the material before taking the politically explosive step of sending FBI agents unannounced to Mar-a-Lago.

  Yahoo

So much for MAGAheads and Republicans who were crying foul play because the FBI should have subpoenaed what they wanted instead of "raiding" Mar-A-Lago.  I did think it was interesting that the areas on the search warrant were an office, a storage area, and a bedroom.

Two people briefed on the classified documents that investigators believe remained at Mar-a-Lago indicated that they were so sensitive in nature, and related to national security, that the Justice Department had to act.

[...]

The National Archives tried for months after Trump left office to retrieve the material, engaging in lengthy discussions with his representatives to acquire what should have been properly stored by the archives under the Presidential Records Act.

When archivists recovered 15 boxes of material this year, they discovered several pages of classified material and referred the matter to the Justice Department. But officials later came to believe that additional classified material remained at Mar-a-Lago.

Some of Trump’s advisers have maintained that they were trying all along to cooperate with federal officials and had kept an open line of communication.

But others familiar with federal officials’ efforts to recover the documents have said that Trump resisted returning property that belonged to the government, despite being told that he needed to.

Some of Trump’s informal advisers outside his direct employ have insisted to him that he can claim the documents are personal items and keep them.

[...]

The existence of the subpoena is being used by allies of Trump to make a case that the former president and his team were cooperating with the Justice Department in identifying and returning the documents in question and that the search was unjustified.

How long would it have taken to "identify" and "return" documents they took to Mar-A-Lago in 15 boxes? Surely not 2 months.

After hours of searching, they left with several boxes that were not filled to the brim and in some cases simply contained sealed envelopes of material that the agents took and were otherwise empty, one person familiar with the search said.

The person said that the FBI left behind a two-page manifest of what was taken.

[...]

Some senior Republicans have been warned by allies of Trump not to continue to be aggressive in criticizing the Justice Department and the FBI over the matter because it is possible that more damaging information related to the search will become public.

Anyone with half a brain could understand that, but I am quite certain it will not cause MAGA Republicans to shut up. 

Meanwhile, MAGAheads are threatening the judge that signed the warrant.  What a surprise.

Far-right extremists on pro-Donald Trump message boards and social networks are making violent, antisemitic threats against the judge who reportedly signed the warrant that allowed the FBI to search the former president's Mar-a-Lago property in Florida.

Multiple members of these toxic online communities are even posting what appears to be Judge Bruce Reinhart’s home address, phone numbers, and names of his family members alongside threats of extreme violence.

[...]

[One] user wrote: “Idgaf [I don’t give a fuck] anymore. Name? Address? Put that shit all up on here.” Moments later, a different member replied with what appears to be Reinhart’s current address, phone numbers, previous addresses, and names of possible relatives.

In another post on the same message board, one user commented, “Let's find out if he has children....where they go to school, where they live...EVERYTHING.”

[...]

Within hours of the FBI searching Trump’s Palm Beach home, the former president’s supporters reacted furiously, calling for civil war and the dismantling of the FBI. As Trump has scrambled to explain why his home was searched, he has also pushed conspiracy theories about the FBI supposedly planting evidence there.

[...]

Right-wing news outlets have also tried to connect the judge to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Reinhart worked as a federal prosecutor until 2008, and a day after he quit, he became the defense attorney for a number of Epstein’s employees, including his pilots and a scheduler, according to his 2018 Miami Herald report. The link between Reinhart and Epstein has been weaponized by Trump supporters to incorrectly imply Reinhart was Epstein’s own lawyer, and, by extension, was corrupt and possibly a pedophile. (A small note in light of these accusations: Trump had a long personal relationship with Epstein, and once famously told New York Magazine that he was a “terrific guy.”)

  Vice

UPDATE:  DOJ  has filed a pleading to have the search warrant released to the public.

In these circumstances involving a search of the residence of a former President, the government hereby requests that the Court unseal the Notice of Filing and its attachment (Docket Entry 17), absent objection by former President Trump. The attachment to that Notice consists of:

• The search warrant signed and approved by the Court on August 5, 2022, including Attachments A and B; and
• The redacted Property Receipt listing items seized pursuant to the search, filed with the Court on August 11, 2022

  Government pleading

UPDATE:

An armed man decked out in body armor tried to breach a security screening area at an FBI field office in Ohio on Thursday, then fled and was injured in an exchange of gunfire in a standoff with law enforcement, authorities said.

The confrontation that began at the FBI's Cincinnati field office came as officials warned of an increase in threats against federal agents in the days following a search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

[...]

He was chased onto Interstate 71, and a shot was fired from his car, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

The suspect left the interstate and abandoned his car on nearby roads, where he exchanged gunfire with police. The man has "unknown injuries," but no one else was hurt, the patrol said. The standoff remained in progress as of midafternoon Thursday.

[...]

On Gab, a social media site popular with white supremacists and antisemites, users have warned they are preparing for an armed revolution.

[...]

The FBI on Wednesday also warned its agents to avoid protesters and ensure their security key cards are "not visible outside FBI space," citing an increase in social media threats to bureau personnel and facilities. It also warned agents to be aware of their surroundings and potential protesters.

  NPR

When all is said and done, I wonder how many people Trump will have gotten killed including his handling of Covid and his incitement of violence toward immigrants, congress, women, and black people, and his constant anti-journalist and anti-law enforcement rhetoric. He is easily the most dangerous man in America.

UPDATE:  Well, here's one more...