At a news conference held at an FBI field office in Omaha, Nebraska, Wednesday, Wray said, “I’m always concerned about threats to law enforcement. Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you’re upset with.”
According toABC News, Wray declined to offer a specific comment about the Mar-a-Lago search, saying, “Well, as I’m sure you can appreciate that’s not something I can talk about,” but did note that, “in the last few years we’ve had an alarming rise in violence against law enforcement.”
Threats against agents have proliferatedon extremist, far-right corners of the webin the days since the FBI executed the warrant on Monday at the home of the former president, 76.
Christopher Wray.Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty
Despite claims from some corners of the web, and from some far-right politicians, obtaining a search warrant is not a political process, andrequires that law enforcement officials show probable causefor conducting the search. That means there should be reasonable information to support the possibility that evidence of illegality will be found during the search.
But the issuing of a search warrant does not mean that the subject is guilty or even accused of a crime, asThe New York Timespoints out.
The search conducted at Trump’s home was part of the investigation into an alleged mishandling of White House records, including potentially classified materials,Politico,CNN,The Washington Postand other news outlets reported.
Trump handed over 15 boxes of materials to the National Archives earlier this year, but questions remained regarding whether more (potentially classified) documents may be at his Palm Bach, Florida, home.
TheWallStreetJournalreports that “a senior Justice Department national security supervisor and three FBI agents” visited Mar-a-Lago on June 3, specifically to discuss records being stored there.
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Newsweek’s reporting echoes that of theJournal, citing two government officials who said that a “confidential human source … was able to identify what classified documents former President Trump was still hiding and even the location of those documents.”
The agency then subpoenaed security footage at Mar-a-Lago and, on Monday, executed a search warrant at the property.
source: people.com
