McCaul calls Trump rhetoric after Mar-a-Lago search ‘inflammatory’

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) on Sunday said Americans deserve more details on what led to the FBI’s search of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, but he expressed concern over some recent rhetoric from Trump attacking the agency.

“There is something like a healthy skepticism about law enforcement, certainly, but for the former president to be using the language that he is when there is this level of threat against FBI agents — would you call on him to tone it down?” asked CBS “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan.

“I think it’s inflammatory,” McCaul responded. “I don’t want to put any law enforcement in the bullseye of a potential threat. And that’s someone who’s worked with law enforcement most of my career.”

But McCaul described the search as “extraordinary.”

The warrant, which was unsealed on Friday, indicated agents executed the search after officials suspected Trump violated the Espionage Act and other laws related to the handling of government documents, and the FBI alleged that it seized 11 sets of classified items.

“The affidavit in support of the warrant will give you the probable cause to try to understand what is going on here,” said McCaul on Sunday. “And I think the American people deserve this.”

McCaul is one of a growing number of Republicans who have called for the release of an affidavit that would likely detail the underlying information that led to the search.

He said on CBS that the Gang of Eight, a group of congressional leaders kept informed on classified intelligence, should have been briefed on the investigation.

“I believe that the relevant committees on the Hill should have access to the documents, but most importantly, this affidavit,” said McCaul.