Regardless of whether the FBI was required to have Garland’s approval, it is hard to believe that the FBI would act in such a precedent-shattering manner without notifying Garland.
“Regardless of whether the FBI was required to have Garland’s approval, it is hard to believe that the FBI would act in such a precedent-shattering manner without notifying Garland.”
The question is not who authorized the raid. I doubt you will find a signature on a piece of paper of anyone we know. There were likely verbal advance heads-up etc with the usual suspects at the top. People were told and in effect OK’d the raid but not in a formal way on paper.
Plausible deniability.
The timing tells us a lot. The raid was conducted 91 days before the 2022 elections.