As FBI Director Christopher Wray prepared to step down, he took a moment to defend one of the most controversial actions taken during his tenure – the search of President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. In an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Wray addressed the criticism from Trump, who had strongly objected to what he called a “raid” over classified documents he took when leaving the White House.
Wray explained that the FBI’s initial approach was all about trying to work with Trump to retrieve the documents in the least disruptive way possible. But when the president-elect refused to hand them over and even obstructed the process, the FBI had no choice but to escalate.
“We tried everything we could,” Wray said. “But if we found that our agents weren’t getting all the classified material back, or if efforts were blocked, we had to move forward with the next step.”
That “next step” came when a federal judge issued a warrant for the search of Mar-a-Lago.
Wray added, “This isn’t something new for the FBI. We’ve been handling cases involving classified documents for decades, including retrieving them from people’s homes.”
While Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, later dismissed the case, Wray’s stance on the matter was clear – the FBI had to take action to ensure the proper handling of classified materials.
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