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FBI agents did seize three passports from former President Donald Trump, including his active one, during the raid on Mar-a-Lago but realized they weren’t needed and took steps to return them, according to an email exchange posted by a Trump spokesman.
Spokesman Taylor Budowich excoriated a CBS News reporter in a Twitter exchange late Monday for reporting the Department of Justice did not have the passports in its possession, characterizing it as a government-media loop that damages his boss.
“This is how Fake News works, folks. Biden admin actively feeds half truths & lies that the media willingly amplifies — advancing a partisan narrative to attack Trump,” Mr. Budowich wrote.
The dustup over Mr. Trump’s passports began Monday when the former president posted on Truth Social that agents took three of his passports, including an expired one.
After reports suggested that wasn’t true, Mr. Budowich posted an email from Jay Bratt, head of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the DOJ’s National Security Division, saying agents took two expired passports and one active diplomatic one, and they would be ready for pickup so they could be returned.
CBS News reporter Norah O’Donnell, who initially reported the government didn’t have the passports, retweeted a statement from the Justice Department late Monday that said: “In executing search warrants, the FBI follows search and seizure procedures ordered by courts, then returns items that do not need to be retained for law enforcement purposes.”
