Did Trump’s Crackpot ‘The FBI Planted Evidence’ Theory Originate With Twitter User CatTurd?

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Former President Donald Trump has now embraced the baseless theory that the FBI planted incriminating evidence against him when they raided his home at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump complained in a Truth Social statement Wednesday that his lawyers were not allowed to observe the FBI agents who conducted a search warrant on his residence earlier this week.

Despite this being standard practice, Trump suggested the lack of oversight from his lawyers over the search could mean the federal agents planted evidence.

“The FBI and others from the Federal Government would not let anyone, including my lawyers, be anywhere near the areas that were rummaged and otherwise looked at during the raid on Mar-a-Lago,” Trump wrote. “Everyone was asked to leave the premises, they wanted to be left alone, without any witnesses to see what they were doing, taking or, hopefully not, “planting.” Why did they STRONGLY insist on having nobody watching them, everybody out? Obama and Clinton were never “raided,” despite big disputes!”

Trump’s lawyers have also baselessly claimed FBI agents planted evidence against the former president. Alina Habba, a Trump attorney, went on Fox News and told Jesse Watters and said “I am concerned that they may have planted something.”

Christina Bobb, another personal lawyer, said she didn’t think the FBI “would go to the extent of trying to plant” evidence against the ex-president, but predicted they would “just make stuff up” to indict him.

The claim has been embraced by more and more of Trump’s allies in the days since the Monday raid, particularly on Fox News, where it has been promoted by several hosts.

It is difficult to trace the exact origins of the FBI “planting” conspiracy theory, but the earliest instance of the claim that Mediaite could find came from MAGA social media star “Catturd,” who posted this shortly after news of the raid broke on Monday night:

Does anyone have any doubt that corrupt Christopher Wray’s rotten FBI would plant evidence on Trump at the drop of a hat?

— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) August 9, 2022

“Does anyone have any doubt that corrupt Christopher Wray’s rotten FBI would plant evidence on Trump at the drop of a hat?” Catturd wrote.