Trump weighs releasing security footage of FBI Mar-a-Lago raid: report

Former President Donald Trump is considering releasing security footage of federal agents executing a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago estate last week after he and his family watched the raid as it happened, according to a new report. 

CNN reported Wednesday that some members of the 45th president’s inner circle have encouraged him to make the footage public as speculation swirls about what exactly the FBI took from the Palm Beach resort.

Trump and his allies have blasted the search — even going so far as to suggest the FBI agents planted evidence — and at least one person familiar with conversations about releasing the footage told CNN that it could feature in campaign-style ads that play up Trump’s assertions of being targeted by the Biden administration.

However, the network quoted another source as saying the footage has been closely held by the former president’s legal team, raising questions about what Trump has actually seen.

“I don’t think it’s been shared by anyone outside of the attorneys,” the source told CNN.

Others close to the former president are wary that releasing the footage could backfire by revealing how much material — including classified information — was seized from Mar-a-Lago.

“It’s one thing to read a bunch of numbers on an inventory list, it’s another to see law enforcement agents actually carrying a dozen-plus boxes out of President Trump’s home knowing they probably contain sensitive documents. I don’t see how that helps him,” a person close to Trump told the outlet. 

Earlier this week, Trump’s second son Eric claimed that the family intends to release the footage. 

“You still have the surveillance tape, is that correct? Will you — are you allowed to share that with the country?” Fox News host Sean Hannity asked on Monday. 

“Absolutely, Sean. At the right time,” Eric Trump replied. 

Last week, Trump attorney Christina Bobb revealed that the former president and his family had watched the raid remotely as it happened.

“It’s kind of funny. I think the folks in New York, President Trump and his family, probably had a better view than I did because they had the CCTV, they were able to watch,” Bobb told Real America’s Voice.

“I was, you know, I was stuck in the parking lot there to, you know, collect paper and answer questions,” she added. “But they were actually able to see the whole thing. So they actually have a better idea of what took place inside.”

Bobb noted that the FBI initially instructed Mar-a-Lago staff to turn off all the surveillance cameras in Trump’s residence. However, the attorneys ensured that they would remain operational.

“The cameras were only off for a very short period of time,” she said.

While Trump himself has not publicly commented on watching the footage of the search, he has repeatedly suggested that the federal agents executing the search warrant might have “planted” incriminating evidence in the home. 

“The whole World was watching as the FBI rummaged through the house, including the former First Lady’s closets (and clothing!), alone and unchecked,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. 

“They even demanded that the security cameras be turned off (we refused), but there was no way of knowing if what they took was legitimate, or was there a ‘plant?’ This was, after all, the FBI!”