Trump news – live: Garland to brief press as report says docs subpoenaed months before FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago

Rolling coverage of the latest developments following the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago

Eric Trump blames Biden administration after FBI raid on Mar-A-Lago

As the fallout from the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago continues with rumours of a Trumpworld informant tipping off authorities, Mr Trump yesterday pleaded the fifth amendment 440 times in his sworn deposition to the long-running New York State probe into his real estate dealings.

Mr Trump has repeatedly condemned the investigation as a politically motivated “witch hunt”. His children Ivanka and Donald Jr both recently gave depositions in the civil investigation after months fighting subpoenas for their testimony.

Meanwhile, reports have revealed that the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago may have been spurred by an informant at the resort tipping the bureau off that Mr Trump and his team had not handed over all the relevant documents stored at the ex-president’s Florida residence. It is not yet clear who the informant might be, but the Monday raid saw agents searching private areas including a bedroom.

The former president and some members of his legal team have claimed without providing proof that agents may have planted evidence at his home.

Key Points

• Has someone in Trump’s inner circle flipped?
• Trump took the fifth more than 440 times in deposition with New York AG’s office
• FBI director calls online threats against federal agents and DOJ 'deplorable'
• Report: FBI previously obtained Mar-a-Lago CCTV tapes

[11 August 2022 19:46 · Oliver O'Connell]

White House had no notice of Garland briefing

NBC News’ Kelly O’Donnell reports that the White House was not informed that Attorney General Merrick Garland would be making a statement today.

[11 August 2022 19:25 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trump hires celebrity attorney who dubs himself the ‘Billion Dollar Lawyer’

Former president Donald Trump has hired a lawyer well-known for representing hip-hop artists and who previously accused him of being being a racist, The New York Times reported.

Mr Trump hired Drew Findling to represent him for a case regarding the former president’s attempts to interfere with the 2020 election results in Georgia. Mr Findling has represented hip-hop artists such as Cardi B, Gucci Mane and Migos, earning the moniker, “#BillionDollarLawyer”.

In the past, Mr Findling criticised Mr Trump vocally on Twitter. When Mr Trump criticised NBA superstar LeBron James, Mr Findling accused him of being a racist.

Eric Garcia reports.

[11 August 2022 19:18 · Oliver O'Connell]

Garland to give a statement on Trump Mar-a-Lago raid

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday will deliver his first remarks since the FBI raided former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Republicans have intenseley criticised Mr Garland since the search of Mr Trump’s home. The Department of Justice and FBI have remained tight-lipped since the law enforcement activity.

Mr Garland’s statement will come amid news that federal investigators attempted to retrieve highly classified documents from Mr Trump’s estate that he improperly removed from the White House this past spring.

Eric Garcia reports.

[11 August 2022 19:10 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trump mocked by banner flown over Mar-a-Lago

Thomas Kennedy, a Florida-based organiser and member of the Democratic National Committee, paid for a plane to fly over Donald Trump’s Palm Beach residence on Wednesday trailing a banner mocking the former president following Monday’s raid by the FBI.

He tweeted: “This is how you treat wannabe authoritarians like Trump. You ridicule and mock them.”

[11 August 2022 18:53 · Oliver O'Connell]

Merrick Garland to make statement on FBI Mar-a-Lago search

Attorney General Merrick Garland is making a public statement at 2.30pm ET, four days after the FBI searched Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

[11 August 2022 18:49 · Oliver O'Connell]

Previous subpoena issued for classified Mar-a-Lago documents

Federal investigators attempted to retrieve highly classified documents that Donald Trump improperly removed from the White House by presenting him with a grand jury subpoena this past spring, months before FBI agents would execute a search warrant at his Palm Beach, Florida home.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

[11 August 2022 18:40 · Oliver O'Connell]

Voices: The Mar-a-Lago raid revealed something interesting about both Republicans and Democrats

Eric Garcia writes:

Most of the disagreements within the GOP tend to be about rhetoric and tactics, while the end goals remain fundamentally the same. Democrats, conversely, do in fact have substantive policy differences.

[11 August 2022 18:20 · Oliver O'Connell]

GOP rep claims he is not target of investigation after phone seized by FBI

Republican congressman Scott Perry, who recently had his phone seized by the FBI, is running damage control and insisting that he is not accused of wrongdoing.

John Bowden reports.

[11 August 2022 18:10 · Oliver O'Connell]

Grand jury subpoena led Feds to seize Mar-a-Lago documents in June, report says

CNN reports that the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago on Monday came months after federal investigators served an earlier grand jury subpoena and took away sensitive national security documents from former President Donald Trump's property during a June meeting. The network cites people familiar with the matter.

This week’s search came about in part because investigators had developed evidence, including from at least one witness, that there were potentially classified documents still remaining at the Florida property months after the National Archives arranged for the retrieval of 15 boxes of documents in January, according to a person briefed on the matter. The documents removed this week are believed to have national security implications.

(AP)

[11 August 2022 18:00 · Andrew Naughtie]

FBI slowly sharing more details of Ohio incident

The FBI’s office in Cincinnati is starting to give more details of the incident that occurred in recent hours. It is still not fully whether the suspect involved is injured or in custody.

Fox News, some of whose pundits have been calling for dramatic action against the FBI in light of the raid, has been covering the story live.