Trump's Attorney Says He and His Family Watched the FBI Search in New York via Security Feed

Virginia Chamlee
·3 min read
Presidential Residences
Presidential Residences

Joe Raedle/Getty. Inset: Zach Gibson - Pool/Getty Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. Inset: Donald Trump.

Though he wasn't in Palm Beach, Donald Trump was watching as federal agents executed a search warrant on his Mar-a-Lago home earlier this week, with one of the former president's attorneys saying he watched via a live feed.

"I think the folks in New York — President Trump and his family — they probably had a better view than I did. Because they had the CCTV, they were able to watch," Trump attorney Christina Bobb said in a Thursday interview on right-wing media network Real America's Voice, per Business Insider.

Meanwhile, Bobb said she was "stuck in the parking lot" of Mar-a-Lago, "there to collect paper and answer questions."

RELATED: Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Home Searched by FBI: 'The Mood Was Pure Shock'

"But they were actually able to see the whole thing," Bobb added of Trump and his family, though it's unclear which family members were with him at the time. "They actually have a better idea of what took place inside."

Bobb claimed that the FBI had initially told them to turn off security cameras in Mar-a-Lago and the staff complied — until "the lawyers stepped in."

"Shortly after, they turned them back on," she said, "so the cameras were only off for a very short period of time."

RELATED: 'Donald Is Furious Yet Scared': Movement in FBI Investigation Complicates Trump's Plans

The former president, 76, was the one to confirm the news that the FBI searched his residence at the Palm Beach, Florida, resort on Monday.

A source told The Washington Post that the investigation was in regard to sensitive materials, including those pertaining to nuclear weapons, though the specifics of those documents and whether any were recovered remains unknown.

In a last-minute press conference Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the DOJ had filed a motion in a Florida court to unseal the search warrant and property receipt, making those details available to the public.

"The public's clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing," the motion reads, according to The Post. "That said, the former President should have an opportunity to respond to this Motion and lodge objections, including with regards to any 'legitimate privacy interests' or the potential for other 'injury' if these materials are made public."

Trump himself has said he wants the documents released.

RELATED: People Are Sharing a 2016 Sarah Huckabee Sanders Tweet After FBI Searches Trump's Mar-a-Lago Resort

The search warrant comes after FBI agents and a senior Justice Department national security supervisor reportedly visited Mar-a-Lago in early June in regards to boxes of classified documents sitting in the property's basement.

Trump reportedly assured officials that he had no more classified materials, but weeks later, "someone familiar with the stored papers told investigators there may be still more classified documents at the private club."

Various outlets report that a source then told the FBI there were additional documents, and on June 22, the Trump Organization "received a subpoena for surveillance footage from cameras at Mar-a-Lago."

Two months after their first visit to the private Palm Beach club, agents were back — this time with a search warrant.

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A source close to Trump told PEOPLE earlier this week that Trump "is furious yet scared. He feels victimized and is calling everyone he trusts to give him advice and reassure him that this is a witch hunt."

Still, the source added, the former president "is buoyed by the Republican support" he has seen in the wake of the search.

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