The Justice Department has confirmed that former President Donald Trump’s passports were taken by FBI agents who searched his Florida home last week — after “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell tweeted that she had been told otherwise.
Predictably, after Trump made the claim, the press quickly jumped into the fray to call him a liar. Norah O’Donnell of CBS News claimed via a source that the FBI was “not in possession of former President Trump’s passports.”
Late Monday, Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich tweeted a screenshot of an email purportedly from a member of the Justice Department’s National Security Division that acknowledged the bureau removed the 45th president’s travel documents from Mar-a-Lago.
“We have learned that the filter agents seized three passports belonging to President Trump, two expired and one being his active diplomatic passport,” the email said.
The email added that the agency was “returning” Trump’s passports and that they would be ready for pickup by 2 p.m. Monday.
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.@NorahODonnell, did your “source” read you this email? Did you bother asking if they indeed seized the passports? https://t.co/DlzkagN0ie pic.twitter.com/VwCU7DPCvg
— Taylor Budowich (@TayFromCA) August 15, 2022
The press and the DOJ working together to push a false narrative isn’t surprising, but that doesn’t make it any less improper and corrupt. There need to be answers provided for how the FBI ended up with Trump’s passports when they obviously weren’t part of what was sought and allowed to be taken in the warrant.
O’Donnell and the rest of the press who ran with that lie that the FBI didn’t have the passports also need to answer for why they swallowed a statement from the DOJ without even bothering to get any corroborating details.
The former president and his allies have slammed the bureau and said the raid is the latest phase of a long-running “witch hunt” that dates back to the bureau’s investigation into whether he colluded with Russia’s government during the 2016 campaign.
Update:
The Justice Department on Monday evening said the three passports belonging to Trump seized by the FBI in last week’s raid of Mar-a-Lago have been returned.
“A Department of Justice official tells me passports belonging to former Pres. Trump are NOT in the possession of the FBI and have been returned.” NBC reported.
A Department of Justice official tells me passports belonging to former Pres. Trump are NOT in the possession of the FBI and have been returned.
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) August 15, 2022
We have a large group of government agencies that have been weaponized. And in case the IRS wasn’t weaponized enough before now… Trader Joe’s new crushing bill will bring on more agents, this time locked & loaded to intimidate WE THE PEOPLE. The FBI & DOJ leadership is massively corrupt and politicized. They notify the LameStream media because they’re anti-trump, but the rest of the details are well hidden. Is 0bama behind it? Most likely!
Why is Trump always proved to be correct on everything? Because the current administration cannot tell the truth on ANYTHING!!