The FBI Association of Agents has announced they are receiving threats following a raid on the home of former US President Donald Trump, which the US Attorney General admitted he “personally approved” of the conduct, angering Republicans.
“I personally agreed with the decision to request a search warrant in this case,” Democratic Attorney General Merrick Garland said at an extraordinary news conference, during which he did not disclose any details about the causes and results of this operation.
The association condemned Republicans’ “baseless attacks” on his agency and the FBI.
Conservative politicians and Trump himself called the FBI “corrupt” and “politicized” after the raid on the former president’s home. She also threatened the FBI and the Justice Department on social media and in conservative chat rooms.
“Special agents and their families should not be threatened with violence, including for the performance of their work,” the FBI said in a statement. “The recent threats are creating an atmosphere in which some have accepted or will accept violence against law enforcement,” she added.
At his press conference, Garland stressed that the Justice Department “doesn’t take this sort of decision lightly,” noting that a federal judge approved the text.
He emphasized the “moral obligations” that prevented him from disclosing the reasons for the search, but stated that he asked a Florida judge to declassify the search warrant. He pointed out, in particular, that Donald Trump himself confirmed that the issue was “important to the public interest” three months before the midterm legislative elections.
“Not only will I object to the release of the documents, but I will go further by calling for their immediate release,” Trump, who received a copy of the search warrant but did not release it, said in a statement Thursday night.
Is the FBI search connected to the many boxes Donald Trump carried with him when he left the White House in January 2021? Does this have anything to do with the investigation into his responsibility for the storming of the Capitol by his supporters?
Is this related to the ongoing financial and tax fraud investigations against him in New York, as well as his two sons Ivanka and Donald Jr., and the Trump organization?
In its request to declassify the memo, the Justice Department cited statements by Trump officials that the FBI was looking for White House archival documents that could be classified as defensive secrecy.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday evening that some of the requested documents relate to nuclear weapons.