Judicial Watch says it has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for all communications between the Secret Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) regarding the search warrant that led to the raid on former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence at Mar-a-Lago on August 8.
Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit to compel Homeland Security to comply with a FOIA request for public information that included:
- All records of communication between any official or employee of the U.S. Secret Service and any official or employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding the execution of a search warrant at the residence of President Trump on August 8, 2022.
The Secret Service had indicated in an August 23 letter that it had completed its search for records responsive to the FOIA request, and had located potentially responsive records, which it did not produce at the time.
But in a September letter, the Secret Service retracted its assertion.
Citing reports from the BBC, and ABC News Judicial Watch outlined certain details in the FOIA lawsuit. the lawsuit says the FBI reportedly provided the Secret Service with advance notice of the pending execution of the search warrant.
The reporting specifically indicates that an employee or employees of the FBI Miami Field Office notified President Trump’s Secret Service protective detail approximately 45 minutes before the FBI’s arrival at Mar-a-Lago.
Records of any such communication would be responsive to the request and fall within the specified time frame.
The Secret Service’s changing story on whether it has documents on the Biden administration’s unprecedented raid on former President Trump’s home should be resolved by a federal court.
Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch President
In October, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit against Homeland Security for all communications between the Secret Service internally and the FBI regarding the raid on Trump’s home, and for any video or audio recordings made during the raid.
Judicial Watch also announced that the National Archives is withholding 99% of the records about the raid that were requested in a Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit.
In August, Judicial Watch forced the release of the key raid affidavit through a court request to unseal the warrant materials.
Judicial Watch also filed two lawsuits against the Justice Department for records of the raid search warrant application and approval, as well as communications about the warrant between the FBI, the Executive Office of the President, and the Secret Service.
Read more about the case here.
