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Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines over the weekend seeking details regarding the reason behind the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago, Axios reported.
The unprecedented operation at the home of a former U.S. president prompted questions from both parties, and Intel Committee Chairman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and ranking member Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., are hoping to get answers.
“In his remarks, Attorney General Garland claimed there was a substantial public interest in the execution of an unprecedented search warrant on President Trump,” Rubio said in a statement to Axios. “As such, the Intelligence Committee has asked the Department of Justice to share with us, on a classified basis, the specific intelligence documents seized from Mar-a-Lago.”
A spokesperson for the Intel Committee told the outlet that the handling of classified information, which seems to be a key issue in the investigation, is among the counterintelligence issues that the committee focuses on.
FBI SEIZED CLASSIFIED RECORDS FROM MAR-A-LAGO DURING RAID OF TRUMP’S FLORIDA RESIDENCE
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) speaks during an oversight hearing with the Senate Rules and Administration in the Russell Senate Office Building on December 07, 2021 in Washington, D.C. Inspector General of the U.S. Capitol Police Michael Bolton attended the hearing to provide an update with the committee on the continued examination and improvements taking place within the U.S. Capitol Police force following the January 6 attack at the Capitol. ((Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images))
The spokesperson said the committee is asking to see the classified information recovered in the raid, as well as “an assessment of potential risks to national security as a result of their mishandling.”
Fox News reached out to the Justice Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence for comment, but neither immediately responded.
TRUMP LASHES OUT AT FBI AMID FALLOUT FROM MAR-A-LAGO RAID: ‘SEE WHAT THEY WERE WILLING TO DO’
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) arrives to a luncheon with Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol Building on October 07, 2021 in Washington, D.C. Senate Democrats and Republicans are working on the next steps before a vote on the debt limit after reaching a deal earlier in the day that will temporarily raise the debt limit through early December. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images))
Warner and Rubio are far from the only ones with questions about the FBI’s raid. Many Republicans have accused the Biden administration of weaponizing the DOJ for political purposes, which the White House has denied, while former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called on the DOJ to explain themselves in order to avoid being viewed as a political tool.
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“DOJ must immediately explain the reason for its raid & it must be more than a search for inconsequential archives or it will be viewed as a political tactic and undermine any future credible investigation & legitimacy of January 6 investigations,” Cuomo said in a tweet.