FBI slammed for ‘error’ in Mar-a-Lago resort search as Jack Smith probes witnesses about ‘hidden room’

WASHINGTON, DC: Special Counsel Jack Smith questioned witnesses about a "hidden room" in former President Donald Trump's luxury resort Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, that the FBI did not examine while searching the property in August 2022, reported ABC News.

According to the portal, the questioning was made in light of Smith's team's efforts to determine if there were any more classified documents they had not found earlier.

Trump, the current Republican frontrunner, is indicted over mishandling of classified documents that he illegally withheld at his luxury residence after his presidency.

Anonymous sources informed ABC News that during the search, the FBI overlooked the 'hidden room' next to Trump's bedroom and also did not search a locked closet.

FBI agents reportedly could not find key to unlock closet

The sources revealed the investigators could not find a key to open the closet, and later, they learned that Trump allegedly changed the lock.

"Based on information gathered throughout the course of the investigation, areas were identified and searched pursuant to the search warrant," said a senior FBI official to ABC News.

Jordan Strauss, a former federal prosecutor and national security official in the Department of Justice, criticized the FBI's negligence. "You're searching a former president's house. You [should] get it right the first time," he told ABC News.

It remains unclear if the former President had hidden any classified documents in the "hidden room" or the "closed closet" or if Special Counsel Smith ever considered another search warrant.

Responding to the report, a Trump campaign spokesperson slammed President Joe Biden and the media, claiming the investigations were "just desperate attempts at election interference ... to stop the presumptive Republican nominee for President."

Trump is charged with 91 criminal cases over four indictments, including the classified documents mishandling and falsifying business records in relation to hush money payments. One for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election result, including allegedly instigating the Jan 6 Capitol attack, and another for allegedly trying to overturn Biden's victory in Georgia.

Internet reacts to FBI's alleged failure to search 'hidden room', locked closet

Responding to the FBI's failure to search the "hidden room" in Mar-a-Lago, social media users were left 'disappointed'.

One user remarked, "Good lord. It never ends."

Another user wrote, "Absolutely maddening."

"Very disappointing. The FBI are the experts, how could they make such an error?" a third response read.

A witty remark read, "Isn’t that the purpose of a hidden room……to be hidden?"

Another said, "Bit late now."

One user commented on Facebook, "What was in those two rooms that the FBI didn't search?"

"Another search warrant to come. Ain't it grand," a second user wrote.

Another user quipped, saying, "Be patience as time will tell!"

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.