MxM News

Newly released internal FBI records show that agents themselves doubted they had enough evidence to justify the August 2022 raid on President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, but were pushed forward anyway by senior officials inside the Biden Justice Department — a decision that Republican lawmakers now say confirms a grave abuse of federal power.

The documents, made public Tuesday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, reveal weeks of internal frustration inside the FBI as agents struggled to establish probable cause that classified material remained at Trump’s Palm Beach estate. In one July 13, 2022 email from the FBI’s Washington Field Office, an official complained that investigators had spent six “counterproductive” weeks chasing a warrant without uncovering any new evidence. “We haven’t generated any new facts, but keep being given draft after draft after draft,” the official wrote, questioning how long the effort could continue without a witness or fresh intelligence to justify a search. Despite those concerns, the DOJ pressed ahead.

Grassley called the disclosures “shocking,” writing on X that the records show the “FBI DID NOT BELIEVE IT HAD PROBABLE CAUSE to raid Pres Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home but Biden DOJ pushed for it anyway.” The Iowa Republican said the emails and memoranda point to a “miscarriage of justice” driven from the top down, not a careful law-enforcement decision grounded in evidence. According to the records, witness interviews conducted after Trump returned classified documents on June 3, 2022 failed to produce proof that sensitive materials were still being concealed at the resort.

Emails exchanged in the week leading up to the Aug. 8 raid show FBI officials actively searching for what they described as a “second path” to obtain a warrant, while also warning about how the operation would look if carried out against a former president. Washington Field Office counterintelligence chief Tony Riedlinger and then-assistant director Steven D’Antuono were included on the discussions, which stressed the need for a “professional, low key” approach and cooperation from Trump attorney Evan Corcoran — a plan that agents cautioned “may not go well at DOJ.” Internal correspondence shows that senior Justice Department officials were unmoved by those concerns. One DOJ official later told colleagues he “frankly [didn’t] give a damn about the optics.”

The records also indicate the DOJ had been preparing for a raid far earlier than previously acknowledged. Emails from early June 2022 show prosecutors wanted a search warrant ready within days of a meeting with Corcoran, anticipating noncompliance and refusing to grant extensions for document production. By July, the scope of the proposed search had expanded dramatically, covering Trump’s office, storage rooms, owner’s quarters, and any other spaces that might have held government records — with only guest rooms explicitly excluded.

When the warrant was finally executed, it bore little resemblance to the restrained operation agents had discussed internally. Trump was not in Florida at the time, having traveled to his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, leaving behind only a small staff. Dozens of FBI agents arrived with lights and sirens, searched multiple areas of the property, entered Melania Trump’s bedroom, and cracked open a safe in Trump’s office. Agents remained on site for most of the day. Trump condemned the action on Truth Social, calling it unprecedented and unnecessary after months of cooperation. “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before,” he wrote.

Attorney General Merrick Garland ultimately approved the raid over objections raised within the FBI. The search later became the foundation for special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of Trump in June 2023 on multiple counts related to classified documents. That case collapsed when U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that Smith had been unlawfully appointed without congressional authorization.

In a cover letter accompanying the document release, FBI Assistant Director Marshall Yates said the bureau was turning over the records in the interest of transparency and restoring public trust. For Grassley and other Republicans, the emails instead reinforce what Trump supporters have argued for years — that the Mar-a-Lago raid was not the product of neutral law enforcement, but a politically driven decision imposed by a Justice Department willing to override its own investigators to target a sitting president’s chief political rival.

MxM News

Insane footage shows a bystander attacking and disarming one of the terrorists, who appears to have been armed with a long rifle, during today’s shooting attack on an event celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. pic.twitter.com/mJceco22bJ

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) December 14, 2025

The chaos that struck Australia on Sunday night produced one moment of astonishing courage: a Sydney shopkeeper, armed with nothing but instinct and grit, charged a gunman at Bondi Beach and wrestled the rifle out of his hands as terrified families ran for cover. Authorities say the act likely prevented even more deaths in what officials have already called an antisemitic terror attack that left 12 people dead and dozens wounded during a Hanukkah celebration along the water.

The hero has been identified as 43-year-old fruit shop owner Ahmed Al Ahmed, a father of two who happened to be nearby when gunfire erupted at the beachfront event “Hanukkah by the Sea,” which had drawn more than 200 people. Footage captured the moment he marched toward the shooter, grabbed hold of the rifle, and overpowered him in a brief, violent struggle. As the gunman hit the pavement, Al Ahmed momentarily pointed the weapon back at him but didn’t fire, instead placing it against a tree before another attacker opened up from a bridge above. He was hit in the hand and shoulder and is now recovering after emergency surgery.

A relative told Australia’s Channel Seven that Al Ahmed had never handled a gun in his life. “He’s a hero — he’s 100 percent a hero,” the family member said. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns echoed the praise, calling the scene “unbelievable,” adding, “A man walked up to someone who had just fired on the community and single-handedly disarmed him. Many people are alive tonight because of his bravery.”

Police say two shooters stepped out of a vehicle along Campbell Parade around 6:40 p.m. and began firing toward the beach. One gunman was killed, the other is in custody in critical condition. Detectives are also investigating whether a third attacker was involved, and bomb units swept the area after reports that an explosive device may have been planted beneath a pedestrian bridge. The toll is staggering: 12 dead, including one shooter, and at least 29 wounded — among them children and two police officers.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned what he called “a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah,” saying, “What should have been a night of joy and peace has been shattered by this horrifying evil attack.” Emergency crews flooded the beach as hundreds of panicked people sprinted away from the gunfire. Video shows one attacker firing down toward the sand from the bridge behind Bondi Park before being shot himself in a final standoff captured by drone footage. Both gunmen appeared to be carrying ammunition belts, with witnesses estimating up to 50 rounds were fired.

Australian police have cordoned off properties linked to the suspects and continue to canvass Bondi for additional threats. What remains clear is that Sunday’s attack was met with extraordinary acts of self-sacrifice, none more dramatic than a shopkeeper from Sutherland who walked into gunfire to stop further slaughter.