FBI agents failed to search a hidden room and a locked closet at Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 when they executed a search and seizure warrant at the home of Donald Trump, ABC News reports. When Jack Smith was named Special Counsel in November 2022, one of the first things he started asking witnesses about were the two locations the FBI did not search.
It’s unclear if the agents who conducted the search were aware of the hidden room located off Donald Trump’s bedroom. Employees of Mar-a-Lago apparently informed investigators of the existence of the room in follow-up questioning weeks or months after the search, but the Special Counsel’s office found no basis to believe any additional material had been hidden there. One pundit called the failure to search the locked closet “astonishing” given the search for classified documents.