DIVIDE AND CONQUER: Trump attempts to sow division at the FBI and DOJ
In the aftermath of the search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate by federal officers nearly two weeks ago, Donald Trump is now trying to sow division within the FBI, going on a delusional rant on his Truth Social platform and making baseless claims that agents are upset with current FBI and Department of Justice leadership.
Since the August 8th search, there has been an increase in threats against FBI agents, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, and his honorable Bruce Reinhart – the Magistrate Judge who signed the warrant.
Dozens of supporters converged on his Palm Beach home to protest the ex-President being on the receiving end of his “law and order” mantra, with calls for violence being spread on right-wing social media platforms, and even coming from political hopefuls like Florida State House candidate, Luis Miguel (R-FL20), who advocated shooting federal agents on Twitter – before being permanently banned.
Just days after the Mar-a-Lago search, former Navy veteran Ricky Shiffer was shot and killed by Ohio state troopers after a failed attempt to breach the FBI’s Cincinnati field office led to a fatal shoot-out with law enforcement – leading to criticism from FBI Director Christopher Wray.
The 2017 Trump appointee called the threats circulating online against federal agents and the Justice Department “deplorable and dangerous,” the Times of Israel reported.
“I’m always concerned about threats to law enforcement,” Wray said. “Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you’re upset with.”
The probe into whether the former president mishandled classified documents goes back 18 months after Trump failed to return documents to the National Archives in potential violation of 1978’s Presidential Records Act – but the unsealing of the search warrant revealed that agents were in search of nuclear documents and Trump was under investigation for possible violations of the Espionage Act.
The Espionage Act, which the DOJ disclosed it had probable cause to believe Trump violated, is a federal law that prohibits the possession or transmission of national defense information https://t.co/zDklMRq8XK https://t.co/zDklMRq8XK
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 12, 2022
Ex-president Trump has continued to smear the Justice Department and FBI since the search, spreading unsubstantiated claims and making wild accusations that the retrieved evidence was “planted” and referring to the legally warranted search as a “break-in” and a “raid,” stoking the same fires with rhetoric reminiscent of his Ellipse speech on January 6th.
With his own personal social media platform to meltdown on without consequence, it doesn’t look like Trump will be “turning down the temperature” of the political climate in the near future. This likely means another unhinged weekend of gaslighting, lies, and incendiary rhetoric from the twice-impeached loser and more potential political violence from his deluded MAGA followers.
Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick
