New developments in the Department of Justice's targeting of former President Donald Trump and the FBI's confirmed interference in the 2020 election are coming fast and furious as tensions mount daily.
In a shocking court filing on Monday, the DOJ confirmed that documents seized by the FBI in its Aug. 8 raid on Mar-a-Lago included records documenting discussions between Trump and his lawyers that are protected by attorney-client privilege.
The latest filing was made after a federal judge signaled she might be ready to grant Trump's request to bring in an outside "special master" to oversee the review of documents seized by the FBI.
The DOJ claimed in the court filing that its "privilege review team" had "identified a limited set of materials that potentially contain attorney-client privileged information." The DOJ said that it was in the process of following the procedures of addressing the privilege disputes.
After the news broke, Trump said in a statement: "Presidential Records Act was fully adhered to by me, but not by the FBI. They RAIDED my home (4th Amendment anyone?). Agent In Charge was just walked out of the FBI Headquarters Building for wrongdoing. He was also involved with the 2020 Election Hoax, the Crime of the Century!!!"
That "Agent in Charge" is Timothy Thibault. He was forced to leave his post on Friday, The Washington Times reported, citing two former FBI officials familiar with the situation.
Thibault was escorted out of the FBI building by two or three “headquarters-looking types,” the report said, citing eyewitness accounts provided to one of the former officials.
Related — Kash Patel: Same DOJ officials who concocted Russiagate ran Trump raid in possible coverup, August, 16, 2022
Trump reacted to Thibault's exit, saying: "The fired agent who was just escorted out of the FBI headquarters is the person who got the FBI to do a Raid on a home, Mar-a-Lago, that has “stirred” the World and created anger and hostility toward the FBI and DOJ the likes of which have perhaps never been seen in our Country before. The “Special Agent” In Charge of the unprecedented and unnecessary Raid and Break In of Mar-a-Lago, who concealed the partisan nature of evidence to secure the FBI’s approval to open an investigation into the 45th President in the first place, was also involved in the hiding and suppressing from the Public and the Media, the “Laptop from Hell,” the 2020 Presidential Election Scam, and so much more!"
Trump added: "Wow, I assume this ends the Fake Witch Hunt? The “Special Agent” In Charge has been removed from his post based on his concealing the partisan nature of evidence presented to secure the FBI’s corrupt investigation into the 45th President of the United States, me, which culminated in their unprecedented and unnecessary Raid and Break-In of my home, Mar-a-Lago. Thank you to the FBI for taking this important step toward sanity!"
Several outlets have reported on allegations that Thibault tried to run interference in the Hunter Biden investigation.
Thibault was named by Senate Judiciary ranking member Chuck Grassley in a July 18 letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland. Grassley cited whistleblowers who alleged a pattern of political bias from high-ranking officials, including Thibault.
Grassley noted that the FBI approved investigative activity into the Trump campaign with questionable predication while also choosing to "shut down investigative activity and sources, which included verified and verifiable information, relating to Hunter Biden."
The FBI has yet to refute these claims, Grassley said, adding that the bureau's failure to address them is eroding public trust in the FBI.
Grassley said whistleblowers had indicated that Thibault and Richard Pilger, who serves in the election crimes branch of DOJ's Public Integrity Section, were at the center of the ongoing investigation into Trump’s campaign. Grassley wrote that he has previously investigated Pilger for misconduct.
"As you are aware, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tim Thibault is not the only politically biased FBI agent at the Washington Field Office," Grassley writes in the letter to Wray. He added that "the FBI answers to Congress and the American people." He gave Wray until Aug. 31 to respond.
Former Trump administration official Kash Patel, in appearance on Fox News's "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Monday, accused the DOJ of putting him at personal risk by leaving his name unredacted in the affidavit used for the FBI's raid on Mar-a-Lago.
Patel's name stood out in the redacted affidavit in reference to a statement he made in May claiming that Trump had already declassified the classified materials that were recovered by FBI agents during the raid. The next eight sections of the affidavit after the Patel reference are fully redacted.
Tweeted former FBI partisan Peter Strzok who lost his job due in large part to Patel's investigation for then U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes: "Get a great F'ing criminal defense lawyer — you're going to need it."
"This DOJ with the same leadership that authorized Russiagate is now back in charge, had gone in to intentionally lift the redaction of just my name and then redact the next seven consecutive pages. It was totally for political purposes," Patel said. "They don’t care about the threats to my life, the racist messages, and the hatred I see every day now because they are publicly advertising for me to fail, to go to jail, and to be harmed."
Julie Kelly of American Greatness noted in an Aug. 25 analysis that Team Biden and congressional Democrats are "plowing new and dangerous ground. Meanwhile, the GOP is silent."
Kelly wrote: "Who in the GOP is detailing how Congress will dismantle this abusive administrative state targeting their own voters? Where is the pledge to cut off funding to the FBI and U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, a Biden campaign advisor now handling the vengeful prosecution of Trump voters?
"Where are the public denouncements of Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, a longtime Obama loyalist now attempting to finish what her boss started in 2016 by putting Trump in handcuffs, or of Steven D’Antuono, the FBI chief responsible for the Gretchen Whitmer fednapping hoax, who sent his agents to Palm Beach to participate in the raid of the former president’s residence?"
As the heat comes down on the DOJ and FBI, Big Tech is stepping in yet again in what critics say is an attempt to take the heat off.
The Google Play store said it will not issue Trump’s Truth Social for download, meaning that 44% of smartphone users in the U.S. can not download the app.
Google says that the app violates the Play store’s standards for content moderation, according to Axios.
Trump Media and Technology Group made the app available for preorder on Android in early August. It is available on Apple’s App Store. Google’s YouTube has suspended Trump’s channel. Android users can still access Truth Social through the platform’s website.
Trump Media said in a press release that Truth Social is creating a “vibrant, family-friendly environment.”
“TMTG has no desire to litigate its business matters in the public sphere, but for the record, has promptly responded to all inquiries from Google,” the company said. “It is our belief that all Americans should have access to Truth Social no matter what devices they use. We look forward to Google approving Truth Social at their earliest convenience.”
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