House Judiciary Committee Launches Investigation into FBI’s Handling of Mar-a-Lago Raid

On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee announced the launch of a new investigation into the FBI and Special Counsel Jack Smith’s handling of the controversial raid of President Trump’s estate at Mar-a-Lago in August of 2022.

As Just The News reports, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wrote a letter to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) counsel on the office of professional responsibility. In the letter, Jordan claims that some of the boxes that were seized from Mar-a-Lago were subsequently altered or mixed up with other content, but this mistake was never acknowledged by the FBI until Smith’s team admitted it in a footnote in a court filing; Smith had previously insisted that all seized materials were exactly as they had been when they were first confiscated.

“This acknowledgement presents grave concerns about the Department’s commitment to impartial judgment, whether the Special Counsel’s office misled a federal court, [and] whether the Special Counsel’s Office strenuously upheld the ‘highest professional standards’ of the Department of Justice,” said Jordan in his letter.

Jordan called for a briefing on which actions could be taken to investigate Smith, demanding that all documents and communications related to the possible manipulation and alteration of evidence be handed over to the committee. Jordan also demanded any documentation related to allegations of “impropriety” committed by Smith or his team, as well as communications related to Jay Bratt’s interactions with the defense.

Jordan gave the DOJ a deadline of May 20th to comply with the request.

In the August raid, which was widely condemned as authoritarian and unconstitutional, the FBI seized at least 33 boxes from the Florida mansion where the former president and current presidential frontrunner resides. Smith accused President Trump, with no evidence, of taking classified documents with him from the White House, even though all of the documents in question had already been declassified during the Trump Administration.