The FBI visited former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in June, nearly two months before its highly publicized raid, sources told CNN on Thursday.
The FBI's earlier seizure came from a grand jury subpoena to retrieve sensitive documents and was supposedly a far more amicable interaction than the search on Monday.
Still, that came after National Archives officials said they recovered 15 boxes of presidential documents from Trump's Palm Beach, Florida, property in January, according to NBC News.
The FBI's recent raid came after investigators reportedly developed evidence that there were still existing files not provided in June, with at least one witness corroborating the suspicion, according to CNN.
Trump corroborated in his own statement about working with investigators regarding the classified documents, writing in his initial announcement that his legal team had been complying for months.
"After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "They even broke into my safe!"
Existing confusion around the incident should be cleared up soon, with Attorney General Merrick Garland saying Thursday that he signed off on the raid and will seek to make the warrant public, per ABC News.
"I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter," Garland said. "The department does not take such a decision lightly."
Although Garland did not immediately explain the reason for the search, he said "probable cause" existed and lambasted "unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors."
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.