Documents that have recently come to light suggest there may have been coordination between the White House under President Joe Biden and the Department of Justice (DOJ) before the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted a raid on President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home. This new evidence appears to contradict earlier claims of independence made by the involved parties and has sparked renewed controversy.
Chad Mizelle, former Chief of Staff to Attorney General Pam Bondi, disclosed to the New York Post that he reviewed emails which detailed interactions among the Biden White House Counsel's Office, the DOJ under then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, and the National Archives about documents at Mar-a-Lago months before the raid on August 8, 2022. Mizelle stated, "We have concrete evidence that Biden’s White House was very much involved in the most unprecedented, unjust and improper law enforcement act in the history of our country."
The emails reportedly show ongoing communication between the White House, DOJ, and National Archives until a pivotal moment when someone suggested taking the discussion 'offline,' after which the correspondence ceased. Although the New York Post has not independently reviewed the documents, a source familiar with the emails confirmed their existence.
These findings come alongside internal FBI and DOJ communications publicized by Senator Chuck Grassley, indicating there was significant opposition to the Mar-a-Lago raid within the FBI. Several officials believed there was insufficient probable cause, but their concerns were overruled by DOJ leadership and then special counsel Jack Smith's team. Ultimately, Garland authorized the raid, which led to the seizure of classified documents and President Trump's indictment in June 2023 — an indictment that collapsed in July 2024 following a federal judge's ruling against Smith's appointment.
The existence of these emails directly challenges the DOJ's policy of maintaining strict independence from the White House. A July 2021 memo by Garland explicitly stated that the Justice Department would refrain from advising the White House on pending or contemplated investigations, barring exceptional circumstances. The Biden administration has consistently maintained the president was unaware of the operation, with former press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declining to respond to inquiries following the raid.
President Trump's legal representatives had contended that the White House was involved behind the scenes, a claim later supported by evidence and statements from then Acting Archivist Debra Steidel Wall. The National Archives officially referred the case to the DOJ in February 2022, and a criminal investigation was authorized by Garland in March of the same year. Smith's team described White House involvement as "formal and limited," but the recently disclosed emails have cast doubt on that assertion.
In a tweet dated December 17, 2025, attorney Jay Sekulow unveiled correspondence indicating that FBI agents and DOJ lawyers from the Biden Administration acknowledged a lack of probable cause but proceeded with the raid regardless. This adds another layer to the ongoing controversy surrounding the actions taken against President Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.
