Outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray doubled down on his defense of the search of President-elect Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home ahead of his resignation.
In an Atlanta Journal-Constitution interview, the resigning FBI director addressed Trump's criticism of the so-called raid on Mar-a-Lago after the president-elect refused to turn over classified documents that he took while leaving the White House.
Wray explained that FBI agents began the attempt to retrieve the documents with the least intrusive means possible, but Trump's obstruction forced the bureau to escalate the process.
"But if those things don't succeed, meaning if we learned that our agents haven't been given all the classified material back, or, worse yet, have had their efforts frustrated or even obstructed, we're left with no — our agents — are left with no real choice," he explained.
A federal judge later issued a warrant for the search of Mar-a-Lago.
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"That's what happened," Wray stated. "And the FBI has been doing mishandling of classified document cases for decades, including retrieving documents from people's homes."
U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, eventually dismissed the classified documents case against the president-elect.
