In the hours since President Trump announced that his "Southern White House" Mar-A-Lago had been raided by the FBI, details on how the federal operation against the former president came to be were scant — but as more information about the raid's approval comes to light, things are looking even worse for those going after Trump.
As Miranda Devine uncovered, a sealed search warrant was assigned to magistrate judge Bruce E. Reinhart, someone who has quite the legal history in Florida.
Sealed search warrant here signed by Bruce E Reinhart, magistrate judge for the Southern District of Florida https://t.co/Vl1FkjjMt8
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) August 9, 2022
Reinhart's resume includes previously quitting his job with the U.S. Attorney's office — which was prosecuting crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein — in order to start a private practice — through which he represented people who worked for Jeffrey Epstein against the government.
That nugget of intrigue came from The Miami Herald:
On October 23, 2007, as federal prosecutors in South Florida were in the midst of tense negotiations to finalize a plea deal with accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a senior prosecutor in their office quietly laying out plans to leave the U.S. attorney's office after 11 years.
On that date, as emails were flying between Epstein's lawyers and federal prosecutors, Bruce E. Reinhart, now a federal magistrate, opened a limited liability company in Florida that established what would become his new criminal defense practice.
The stated address, according to Florida state corporate records: 250 South Australian Ave., Suite 1400. It was the same location, and identical suite number, as that of Epstein's lead attorney, Jack Goldberger.
By the end of the year, Reinhart had resigned his post in the Southern District of Florida. Within Days, on Jan. 2, 2008, he was hired to represent several of Epstein's accused accomplices who would later, like Epstein, receive federal immunity for allegedly trafficking underage girls.
So, Reinhart switched from working for the government and prosecuting Jeffrey Epstein and his associates for sex trafficking to... representing Jeffrey Epstein's employees accused of sex trafficking against the government, a successful effort that saw his clients get immunity.
BREAKING: Did Jeffrey Epstein offer prosecutors anything in return for his sweetheart deal? Bruce Reinhart went from prosecuting Epstein to representing Epstein’s accomplices who then also received immunity for trafficking underage girls.
— Polly Sigh (@dcpoll) July 13, 2019
by @jkbjournalist https://t.co/TIR38j7uGY
Among the Epstein employees Reinhart represented were his scheduler, pilot, and a woman Epstein once referred to as his "Yugoslavian sex slave," The New York Post reported.
Adding to the questionable reputation for Judge Reinhart are his political campaign donations. Per FEC records, Reinhart donated $1,000 to Barack Obama in 2008 and $500 to Jeb Bush in 2015.