Even Judge Cannon didn't buy Trump's 'insufficient' narrative about the FBI's 'criminal raid' on Mar-a-Lago

The time earlier ex-special counsel Jack Smith was acceptable to attest earlier Congress behind closed doors, Fox News published a communicative astir FBI interior emails doubting "probable cause" for the August 2022 "raid" of Mar-a-Lago successful hunt of classified documents, rehashing grievances astir the lawsuit that not adjacent the justice who dismissed it bought.

The opening lines of the "exclusive" Fox story contended Tuesday that "newly declassified documents" showed the "Biden Justice Department" engaged successful a unit run to determination the Mar-a-Lago probe forward, quoting erstwhile Deputy Assistant Attorney General George Toscas arsenic saying connected a 2022 telephone that helium didn't "give a damn astir the optics" surrounding the eventual search.

If determination was immoderate question astir the perceived interaction of the article, President Trump cleared that up for himself successful a absorption connected Truth Social.

"Unreasonable Search and Seizure!!! That was the FBI's CRIMINAL RAID connected Mar-a-Lago. This tin ne'er beryllium allowed to hap again!!! President DJT," the Tuesday nighttime station said.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt likewise drew attraction to the portion by screenshotting the header and stating with an alarm emoji: "Here's a communicative that matters…"

🚨Here's a communicative that matters…

"The FBI did not judge it had probable origin to raid President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago location successful 2022, but moved guardant amid unit from the Biden Justice Department, with an authoritative saying helium didn't 'give a damn astir the optics' of the… pic.twitter.com/zUet61Z8B9

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) December 16, 2025

There's conscionable 1 problem: U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed justice who ruled successful mid-July 2024 that Smith was unlawfully appointed arsenic peculiar counsel, did not accidental what the White House has regarding the Mar-a-Lago search.

If the didn't "give a damn astir the optics" enactment sounded familiar, that's due to the fact that it showed up repeatedly successful a Trump defence question from much than a twelvemonth agone challenging the validity of the warrant based connected alleged "omissions" by the government.

The May 2024 "Motion for Relief Relating to the Mar-a-Lago Raid and Unlawful Piercing of the Attorney-Client Privilege," signed by Todd Blanche, present the lawman lawyer wide of the United States, utilized the aforesaid punctuation to reason the hunt was "unconstitutional" and starkly antithetic from the mode the Clintons were treated.

The defence complained that the hunt went guardant contempt "FBI objections" and interior debate. Blanche bristled that President Joe Biden's DOJ leadership, specifically Deputy Assistant AG Toscas, "frankly [did]n't springiness a damn astir the optics" of the hunt of then-former president Trump's Florida home, a hunt then-Attorney General Merrick Garland yet signed disconnected on.

"On August 8, 2022, equipped FBI agents stormed the backstage residence of a erstwhile president of the United States. What was unthinkable with respect to President Clinton's recordings, and deemed unwarranted with respect to Hillary Clinton's demolition of evidence, was determined to beryllium due by the Biden Administration for President Biden's main governmental rival," tribunal documents said. "Personally authorized by Attorney General Garland, and supported implicit FBI objections by DOJ enactment who did not 'give a damn astir the optics' of these unprecedented steps, the raid of Mar-a-Lago was unconstitutional."

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The defence asked Cannon to bid a Franks proceeding — a benignant of proceeding successful transgression cases successful which a suspect challenges the truthfulness of an affidavit utilized successful enactment of a hunt warrant — claiming it could marque a "substantial preliminary showing" that the authorities lied by omission and asserted those "omitted facts," had they been included successful the government's hunt warrant application, "would person prevented a uncovering of probable cause."

In this context, Trump attorneys Blanche and Christopher Kise alleged an unnamed FBI peculiar cause who submitted the exertion and an affidavit "intentionally oregon recklessly misled the issuing magistrate" connected "at slightest 4 issues," 1 of those issues being interior FBI statement connected whether executing a hunt warrant was indispensable astatine all.

"First, Agent FBI 21A failed to disclose that the FBI had taken the position—in writing, apparently—that it was not indispensable to execute a hunt warrant astatine Mar-a-Lago. The FBI's appraisal conflicted with Agent FBI 21A['s] sworn assertion that the warrant exertion needed to beryllium sealed due to the fact that 'disclosure … whitethorn person a important and antagonistic interaction connected the continuing probe and whitethorn severely jeopardize its effectiveness …,'" the question went on. "To the contrary, ADIC [Assistant Director successful Charge] [Steven] D'Antuono, who was Agent FBI 21A['s] brag astatine the time, believed it was due to question consent for the hunt from President Trump's attorney, [redacted]."

Further down successful the motion, Trump's lawyers dinged Smith for arguing "falsely" that the authorities "had 'no prime but to question a hunt warrant.'" The defense's proof? The "omission" astir the FBI's evident content that the "objective of the hunt could person been accomplished done a telephone to" Trump's lawyer, arsenic combined with Toscas' not giving "a damn" astir "optics" remark.

"The intentional and improper quality of this omission is further supported by Toscas' antecedently backstage declaration, arsenic a DOJ supervisor, that helium did not 'give a damn astir the optics' of the raid," the defence said, seeking a Franks proceeding to "facilitate fact-finding regarding the motive down the worldly omissions and their interaction connected the warrant application."

Just 18 days earlier she tossed retired the Espionage Act indictment against then-candidate Trump portion repeatedly citing Justice Clarence Thomas' solo concurrence successful the Supreme Court's statesmanlike immunity determination Trump v. United States, Cannon connected June 27, 2024, refused to assistance Trump that hearing.

"Defendant Trump has not made the requisite 'substantial preliminary showing' to warrant a Franks hearing. He identifies 4 omissions successful the warrant, but nary of the omitted information—even if added to the affidavit successful enactment of the warrant—would person defeated a uncovering of probable cause," Cannon wrote straightforwardly, adding a footnote for other clarity: "The Motion does not meaningfully situation the beingness of probable origin successful the affidavit."

Cannon didn't halt here.

She recovered that the allegedly applicable omitted details astir "dissenting views of different FBI agents" — and D'Antuono's enactment for contacting Trump's attorney, seeking consent to hunt Mar-a-Lago — were an "insufficient ground to believe" that the "evidentiary calculus successful enactment of probable cause" would person been "altered" by the information's inclusion successful the application.

The "omissions" couldn't decision probable cause, but they were bully capable for different quality cycle.