Some high-ranking FBI officials objected to the Justice Department's raid of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, according to a report from The Washington Post.
The Post reported that while several top-ranking government officials supported a raid on the property, including counterintelligence chief Jay Bratt and Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen, multiple FBI officials objected about a week before the raid in what the newspaper described as a "tense showdown."
FBI Washington field office head Steven M. D'Antuono reportedly objected to the raid, which he considered unnecessary and excessive. The Post reported that he refused to conduct the raid unless directly ordered, and that he wanted to contact Trump's attorney, a former Justice Department prosecutor, to set up a search of the premises. D'Antuono is quoted as saying during the discussion, "We are not the presidential records police."
When D'Antuono reportedly asked if Trump was officially a subject of a criminal investigation, Bratt reportedly said, "What does that matter?"
Spokespeople for the Justice Department and FBI declined to comment to the Post. Attorney General Merrick Garland, asked about the report during a hearing before the Senate on Wednesday, said that while he could not go into detail about the investigation, during cases "there is often a robust discussion and it's encouraged among investigators and prosecutors."