OPINION: This article contains commentary which may reflect the author’s opinion
New reports claim that aides of President Donald J. Trump may be thinking that it was a close family member who informed the FBI on him that led up to the highly suspicious raid on his Florida home last week and shocked a nation with the brazen disregard for transparency on such an escalated response to a former President, who is likely to run for President again in the 2024 cycle.
The biggest clue that it was a family member who ‘ratted Trump out”, media reports claim, is that FBI agents knew where to find a specific leather case.
“Trump aides are speculating about the identity of a possible informant at Mar-a-Lago and some think only a member of Trump’s family could have done it,” The Guardian reported recently.
We don’t know a lot about the purpose of the FBI, because Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the FBI have refused all transparency about the raid, but some people believe that the FBI was acting on information from a witness.
“Multiple sources close to Trump told the publication that after the August 8 search of Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida, aides began speculating about who could have been speaking to the agency,” Business Insider reported.
“In the search, agents took more than a dozen boxes of items, as well as highly classified information. They appeared to have specific information about what to look for.
Speculation initially focussed on Trump’s political aides, and resort staff at Mar-a-Lago, the outlet’s sources said, before shifting to those closer to Trump.
Per the sources, some aides were convinced that only a family member would have known to point agents to a particular leather-bound box, as well as knowing the location of Trump’s safe.
Both Trump’s estranged niece, Mary, and his former attorney Michael Cohen have speculated that Jared Kushner, the former president’s son in law, could be the informant. Neither offered evidence to back the claim,” BI reported.
Rumors about strains in the relationship between Trump and Kushner and Mary Trump have been ongoing, leading some to believe the media claims.
The New York Times reported that agents also obtained surveillance footage via subpoena of a hallway near the storage room where the documents were being kept and saw something that alarmed them.
Business Insider added more details:
“The Justice Department has asked a judge not to release the affidavit which details the probable cause the search was based on, saying that it could provide information about the scope of the investigation.
Trump has said he wants the document to be made public.
The warrant used in the search, which was unsealed Friday, showed that agents believe Trump may have violated several laws, including the Espionage Act.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing over the handling of the documents.”
A Yahoo News report confirmed the speculation about the leather case, which gave opponents of Trump an opportunity to call into question all of his family members:
Trump aides think a family member informed on him to the FBI because agents knew where to find a specific leather case, report says
Ivanka?
Derp Jr?
Gums?
Barron?
Melaina?https://t.co/2K4qkUrM9f— Kimberley Johnson 🇺🇦 (@AuthorKimberley) August 18, 2022
The Yahoo article reported with other details:
“Multiple sources close to Trump told the publication that after the August 8 search of Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida, aides began speculating about who could have been speaking to the agency.
In the search, agents took more than a dozen boxes of items, including highly classified information. Agents appeared to have specific information about what to look for.
Speculation initially focussed on Trump’s political aides and resort staff at Mar-a-Lago, the outlet’s sources said, before shifting to those closer to Trump.
According to the sources, some aides were convinced that only a family member would have known to point agents to a particular leather-bound box, as well as knowing the location of Trump’s safe.”
While Trump haters are giddy at the idea of more betrayal being heaped on him by a family member, the idea that it was a family member who led the FBI to perform an outrageous raid and then go into cover-up-mode again, is not lost on other Americans.
Yahoo reported:
The Justice Department has asked a judge not to release the affidavit which details the probable cause the search was based on, saying that it could provide information about the scope of the investigation.
Trump has said he wants the document to be made public.
The warrant used in the search, which was unsealed Friday, showed that agents believe Trump may have violated several laws, including the Espionage Act.
The Espionage Act
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code but is now found under Title 18.
In a bid to quell dissent against the United States’ support for World War I, the act prohibited obtaining or disclosing information related to national defense if it could be used at the expense of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing over the handling of the documents.
Source: The Republic Brief