FBI and DHS warn threats to federal law enforcement have spiked since Mar

Jun 20, 2023

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have issued a joint intelligence bulletin warning of a spike in threats to federal law enforcement officials since the search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News.

"The FBI and DHS have observed an increase in threats to federal law enforcement and to a lesser extent other law enforcement and government officials following the FBI's recent execution of a search warrant in Palm Beach, Florida," the document, dated Friday, reads, according to one official.

The bulletin, which advises that such threats are occurring online, was sent out of an abundance of caution, the officials said. It calls on authorities to be vigilant and to be aware of issues surrounding domestic violent extremists, past and present incidents, and past behaviors.

A third law enforcement official said the five-page document states that such threats are appearing across multiple platforms, "including social media sites, web forums, video sharing platforms and image boards."

The FBI also warned that it has seen personal identifying information of possible targets of violence, such as home addresses, as well as identification of family members as additional targets, the official added. All three sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.

The FBI searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort last Monday. A senior government official said the FBI was at the location "for the majority of the day" and confirmed that the search warrant was connected to the National Archives.

Pro-Trump internet forums erupted with violent threats and calls for civil war after the search.

The bulletin cites an incident in which a man fired a nail gun into the FBI Cincinnati field office as one of the attacks on federal law enforcement, the law enforcement officials said.

The man, whom two law enforcement sources identified as Ricky Shiffer, died in a confrontation with police. He appeared to have recently posted online about his desire to kill FBI agents shortly after the search.

The joint intelligence bulletin, which was sent through law enforcement channels late Friday, is intended to raise awareness after the names of two FBI agents involved in the Mar-a-Lago search were made public, two Secret Service officials said.

As a result of the bulletin, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Secret Service is strengthening its field offices and encouraging vigilance among all protective details and stationary posts, especially at the White House and other well-marked locations.

Trump received a federal grand jury subpoena this spring for sensitive documents the government believed he kept after he left the White House, a source familiar with the matter confirmed Thursday.

The property receipt of recovered items shows that FBI agents recovered a trove of top secret and other highly classified documents, according to court documents a federal judge in Florida unsealed Friday.

Federal agents removed 11 sets of classified documents, including some that were labeled secret and top secret, according to documents NBC News obtained shortly before the judge unsealed them. Among the items the FBI took were a handwritten note, information about the "President of France," an executive order granting of clemency for Trump ally Roger Stone and binders of photos.

There were also papers described as "SCI" documents, which stands for highly classified "sensitive compartmented information." The Justice Department filed a notice Friday saying Trump did not oppose the unsealing.

While Trump and his allies have suggested that he had declassified any documents in his possession while he was in office, three laws cited in the search warrant do not specify that the mishandled documents had to have been classified.

Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich was dismissive of details in the documents in a statement Friday, calling the search "outrageous" and a "botched raid."

Jonathan Dienst is chief justice contributor for NBC News and chief investigative reporter for WNBC-TV in New York.

Kelly O’Donnell is Senior White House correspondent for NBC News.

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