Some DOJ members think silence on FBI Mar-a-Lago raid is ‘harming’ the department: CNN reporter

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Some DOJ members think silence on FBI Mar-a-Lago raid is ‘harming’ the department: CNN reporter

CNN reporter Evan Perez revealed that some people working in the Department of Justice feel that the department’s silence on the FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago is hurting their reputation and making them the subject of GOP conspiracy theories.

On "CNN Newsroom" Thursday morning, the cable news channel's justice correspondent Evan Perez revealed that some people working in the Department of Justice feel that the department’s silence on the FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago is hurting their reputation and making them the subject of GOP conspiracy theories.

Speaking to CNN anchors Poppy Harlow and Alex Marquadt, Perez described a "debate" raging "internally" in the DOJ over whether the agency should comment on the raid publicly. The reporter claimed that one side of the debate feels that in this case, it is in the "public’s interest" to know some details as to why former President Donald Trump is an FBI/DOJ target.

Perez, who reminded CNN viewers that he has "covered the department for more than a decade," claimed that he knows "Justice Department rules, which are, you know, that they don’t comment on ongoing investigations." Though he added that some within the department think the Mar-a-Lago incident should be handled differently.

CNN reporter Evan Perez details "debate" within Justice Department over telling public the motive for FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago.

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"But those rules also say that there sometimes is a public interest for the department to make clear that what it is doing, you know, what it is doing is actually trying to pursue investigations under the law," he noted, adding, "And so that’s where some of this debate is happening inside the department."

As Perez spoke about the debate, the CNN chyron read, "CNN: Some DOJ, FBI officials argue silence is harming department."

The correspondent continued, explaining the view of those DOJ employees who insist there should be more transparency on this case. "The view is that because the department has said nothing, it has led – it has left the field open for Trump allies to make claims, including the fact that you heard from Rand Paul and others that, uh, evidence may be getting planted by the FBI."

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Aerial footage of police stationed outside of Mar-a-Lago during FBI raid (WFOR)

During the Wednesday episode of "Fox & Friends," Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., claimed, "people distrust so much the government that we’ve gotten to the point where, for example, do I know that the boxes of material that they took from Mar-a-Lago, that they won’t put things in those boxes to entrap him?" 

Perez dismissed Paul’s questions, saying, "they have offered no evidence to support" them. Though that doesn’t mean the DOJ or FBI doesn’t have a problem with public trust.

The correspondent continued, "So that’s where this debate is going on, even inside the department about, we know that, you know, we can’t say very much about ongoing investigations, but that there is room for the department to at least assure the public that what they did was obviously authorized by a court."

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Former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate was raided by FBI agents on Monday evening.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)