Federal law enforcement on high alert due to online threats after Mar-a-Lago search
MIAMI - Federal law enforcement is on high alert after an unprecedented number of threats against them after searching former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
A joint FBI and Department of Homeland Security intelligence bulletin sent to law enforcement across the country warned of "...a threat to place a so-called dirty bomb in front of FBI headquarters" and "..general calls for 'civil war' and 'armed rebellion"...and other threats.
The threats, circulating online, also included the name of two FBI agents who took part in the search.
Former FBI agent and now criminal defense attorney Stuart Kaplan called the threats outrageous.
"The men and women throughout the 56 field offices across the United States, they're the reason why you and I can have this conversation this morning they keep us safe," he said.
Kaplan explains the process the FBI is likely going through when sifting threats. He told CBS 4,
"I think the first thing the FBI is going to do is ensure that our personal safety is front and center. Meaning, that we are taking the necessary precautions to just be a little bit more mindful of our comings and goings. Our mode of transportation, our mode of travel."
Kaplan also said federal offices will likely have tighter security.
The warrant, unsealed Friday, detailed agents retrieved close to two dozen boxes of material containing eleven sets of classified documents, some marked top secret. The warrant revealed Trump was under possible investigation for violations of the Espionage Act; obstruction; and theft of government documents.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has defended the FBI operation, and noted, "I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter."
CBS News has learned that weeks before the search, a Trump lawyer signed a document certifying that all classified materials had been removed from Mar-a-Lago, according to two sources familiar with the timeline of events and the decision to seek the search warrant.
But after the Trump attorney certified that all classified materials had been removed from Mar-a-Lago, investigators gleaned that in fact, there might still be more classified documents at the residence because they had spoken with a handful of individuals familiar with where and how the documents are stored at the compound. It is not clear if these individuals are staffers for Trump or for the Mar-a-Lago club.
Trump and his allies have denounced the search as a politically motivated raid carried out by the Justice Department.
Since the search, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have demanded more transparency.
Kaplan agrees.
"The FBI has lost its compass meaning its executive staff. I think that they have bought into the politics of going after not only someone who was running for office, meaning then Donald Trump as a candidate but certainly throughout his candidacy and then, of course, we saw throughout the last four years and now carrying into a year and a half after he's left office, the FBI continuing to target this individual," he said.
The former president, who has not been charged, is demanding that the documents taken from his home be returned immediately.
