Tipsheet

Chairman Jordan Reiterates Demand for Answers From AG Garland on Mar-a-Lago Raid

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  May 29, 2024 3:30 PM

Since August 15, 2022, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee have been seeking answers on the FBI's raid on Mar-a-Lago that took place on August 8 of that year. Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) is reiterating that request, and now that Republicans are in the majority, there's some teeth to it. Townhall obtained a letter that Jordan sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday, demanding answers or face the threat of a subpoena. As Jordan's letter reminds, the raid amounted to "a shocking escalation of the Biden Administration’s weaponization of law-enforcement resources against its political opponents."

The letter also begins with a timeline as to how we got to this point, referencing not only a letter that then Ranking Member Jordan wrote to Garland on August 15, but other concerns. 

"On June 9, 2023, after receiving testimony from Steven D’Antuono, former Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, about his concerns with the FBI’s and Justice Department’s handling of the raid, the Committee sought additional information from the FBI. On June 15, 2023, the Committee received a purported response that declined to provide any  responsive documents and indicated that the Department 'will speak through its court filings,'" Jordan's letter further details.

It's not merely that Republicans have been demanding answers for close to two years and that they're now in the majority. Jordan's letter also references an order from Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing Special Counsel Jack Smith's case against former and potentially future President Donald Trump to do with classified documents.

"Judge Aileen Cannon has recently ordered the Department to publicly docket several previously undocketed court filings in hyper-partisan prosecutor Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case against President Trump," Jordan's letter mentions, citing an order from May 19. "These filings include documents responsive to our requests."

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Thus, Jordan is seeking the following information:

1. All documents and communications referring or relating to meetings between FBI  and Justice Department officials prior to the execution of the search warrant on President Trump’s private residence; 

2. All documents and communications referring or relating to the execution of a search warrant on President Trump’s private residence, including those sent or received by the following FBI and Justice Department Officials: 

a. Paul Abbate, 

b. Matthew Olsen, 

c. Jay Bratt, 

d. George Toscas,  

e. Steven D’Antuono; and 

3. All documents and communications between or among Washington Field Office agents and employees and the U.S. Secret Service about a potential search of President Trump’s residence.

Should the Department of Justice (DOJ) not respond by June 12, Jordan's letter warns that the "Committee is prepared to resort to compulsory process to obtain compliance with our requests."

The FBI raid, which took place almost two years ago now, has been thrust back into the news once more. Last Tuesday, we learned that the FBI had been authorized to use "deadly force" in the raid. Fortunately Trump was not home at the time. Smith filed a gag order request on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend as a result of Trump's fundraising emails on the matter. Judge Cannon just turned down that request on Tuesday of this week. 

Also last Tuesday, a source familiar confirmed to Townhall that Garland will be testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on June 4. No doubt this letter and the raid is bound to come up, especially if the DOJ has not responded by then.