Fox News Guest Stuns Brian Kilmeade By Saying FBI Wanted Attention Over Mar-a-Lago Raid

Former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker stunned Fox News co-host Brian Kilmeade on Friday by saying that the FBI wanted attention by carrying out Monday’s raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

According to the New York Times, the search concerned classified documents that Trump took from the White House after he left office. According to Newsweek, the raid was not related to the Department of Justice’s probe of Trump’s conduct surrounding Jan. 6. The Washington Post reported that Trump took classified information that included nuclear documents.

During Fox & Friends, Kilmeade pointed out reports that the FBI didn’t want to raid Mar-a-Lago with the president there, so they wanted until he was out of town as not to create a firestorm.

“How clueless are they to think they can slide up with guards, take over a compound for nine hours with the FBI and countless trucks along with aerial, I think, with airplanes and nothing is going to create a firestorm?” asked Kilmeade. “How much of an emergency can it be if they hold onto the warrant for a couple of days and don’t do anything?”

Whitaker replied that Kilmeade is “absolutely right.”

This has caused a complete firestorm. They should have anticipated. And it does demonstrate how insulted on the Fifth Floor of the Department of Justice is. [Attorney General] Merrick Garland said one thing that I disagree with. And he said that this, obviously DOJ policy, they need to use the least intrusive means [in] obtaining this evidence. In this case, they went in with dozens of agents to execute a search warrant. And there had to be away to not cause a firestorm. They didn’t want to do it, they wanted this attention. And they wanted to demonstrate…

“Really,” asked Kilmeade. They wanted this attention? They wanted this attention, you think?”

Whitaker replied “there’s so many other ways to get this information.” For example, he said, the DOJ could’ve issued a second subpoena. The DOJ issued a subpoena in June for allegedly classified materials Trump took with him when he left office.

“They took this step and they crossed a line that they intentionally did and they knew that it was going to cause this firestorm and now they have it,” he said. “And it seems to me they didn’t get what they wanted when they a search warrant, so they’re trying to walk it back. It’s going to be very interesting in the coming days what we learn.”

Watch above, via Fox News.