Criminal Defense Lawyers

FBI Search Warrant at My Home or Business

The raid isn’t the beginning of the investigation. It’s the middle. By the time 29 FBI agents show up at your door at 6am, they’ve been investigating you for months – sometimes years. They’ve reviewed your financial records. They’ve interviewed your associates. They’ve subpoenaed your bank statements. The search warrant is them collecting the final pieces of evidence they already know exist. You’re groggy, disoriented, half-awake in your pajamas with your spouse terrified beside you. They have a script of questions prepared by a prosecutor. That’s not an accident. That’s the plan.

Early morning raids are designed to catch you at your weakest while they’re at their strongest. Research shows suspects questioned immediately after waking demonstrate reduced cognitive performance. You can barely remember your own phone number at 6:30am. The FBI knows this. They’re counting on it. Every word you say in that disoriented state gets written into a “302” report – the FBI’s official version of what happened. There’s no recording to contradict them. Their notes become the truth.

Roger Stone learned this on January 25, 2019. Twenty-nine FBI agents in combat gear with night-vision equipment arrived at his Florida home before dawn. Seventeen vehicles, lights flashing, guns drawn. “FBI! Open the door!” Stone appeared in the doorway in his pajamas. “They terrorized my wife, my dogs,” he said later. “They could simply have contacted my attorneys and I would have been more than willing to surrender voluntarily.” But voluntary surrender doesn’t create the psychological pressure that a dawn raid does. The spectacle is the point.

The 302 Report That Becomes the Official Story

Heres what nobody explains about FBI interviews. The FBI’s policy is not to record them. Two agents show up, ask questions, take notes. Later, they write those notes into an official report called a “302.” That 302 becomes the governments version of what you said. Theres no tape to compare it against. Theres no video. Just there notes and your memory – and in any courtroom, official government documents beat personal recollection.

Think about what that means at 6am. Your half-awake. Your trying to process why armed federal agents are in your living room. You say something that could be interpreted two different ways. Guess which interpretation makes it into the 302? The one that makes you look guilty. The one that supports there case. You have no recording to prove otherwise. Months later, at trial, an agent reads from that 302 and testifies that you said exactly what’s written there. Your word against theres.

Why You Should Never Consent – Even With a Warrant

Common sense tells you: they have a warrant, just let them in and get it over with. Thats exactly wrong. Even when agents have a valid warrant, you should explicitly state that you do NOT consent to the search. Say the words: “I do not consent to this search, but I will not obstruct you.” Then step aside. Why? Becuase consenting waives your right to challenge the warrant later.

Warrants can be defective. Maybe the underlying affidavit contained false statements. Maybe the agent misrepresented evidence to the judge. Maybe the warrant dosent actually authorize searching were there searching. If you consent, none of that matters. Your consent made the search legal regardless of wheather the warrant was valid. Your one potential defense – suppressing evidence from an illegal search – is gone. One word at 6am destroys months of potential legal defense.

Heres the exact script: “I do not consent to this search. I want to speak to an attorney. I will not answer any questions.” Say it clearly. Say it calmly. Then stop talking. Agents may try to continue the conversation. They may ask “just a few quick questions.” They may say they just want to “clear some things up.” Every word is designed to get you talking. Every response you give goes into there 302. Silence is your only protection.

Roger Stone’s Dawn Raid: 29 Agents, 17 Vehicles

The Roger Stone raid wasnt an investigation necessity. It was a statement. Twenty-nine agents in tactical gear. Seventeen vehicles with lights flashing. Guns drawn. Night-vision equipment. CNN cameras rolling outside – the only media outlet present for this “suprise” raid. Stone later said it was “designed to maximize media coverage and create a spectacle.” He wasnt wrong.

Stone’s seven-count indictment charged witness tampering and lying to Congress. These are paper crimes. Document crimes. Crimes that dont require tactical teams at dawn. Stone had attorneys who could of arranged a voluntary surrender. Instead, the FBI chose maximum force for maximum psychological impact. The message was clear: this is what happens to you. The raid itself becomes part of your punishment, weather your ever convicted or not.

Two and a half years later, the FBI returned property seized from Mar-a-Lago to Donald Trump. The search happend in August 2022. The property came back in early 2025. Thats how long you might be without your belongings – your documents, your computers, your business records – even if your never charged with anything. The government takes its time. Your life waits.

The Property Receipt Is Your First Discovery

When agents finish there search, they leave a receipt listing everything they took. Most people glance at it and set it aside, overwhelmed by what just happened. Thats a mistake. That receipt is your first piece of discovery. It tells you what the investigation is about. Read it carfully.

If they took computers but not paper files, there looking at digital communications. If they seized bank records and financial documents, there following the money. If they took specific items from specific locations, that tells you what they already knew was there – which means they had inside information or previous surveillance. The receipt reveals the investigations focus and, sometimes, its sources.

Your attorney should get a copy of that receipt immediatly. If they seized attorney-client privileged materials without noting privilege protections, you can file an immediate motion for return of property. If the items seized exceed what the warrant authorized, thats a scope violation that could lead to suppression. The receipt is evidence about the evidence. Treat it accordingly.

Your Devices Are Gone for Months – Maybe Years

Expect to be without your phone, computer, and electronic devices for six to twelve months minimum. Thats the standard timeline for federal evidence processing. Complex cases take longer. Mar-a-Lago took two and a half years. Your business records, your client communications, your personal photos – all sitting in an FBI evidence room while your life continues without them.

Plan for this. If you have any warning that you might be a target – unusual subpoenas, coworkers being interviewed, a target letter – back up critical business information in advance. Not to destroy evidence, which is obstruction of justice. But to maintain business continuity when agents take your primary devices. Your attorney can advise on what backup procedures are appropriate.

Getting property back is its own battle. The government can hold evidence until the case concludes, including appeals. If your never charged, you can file a motion for return of property, but the process takes months. Some property – anything the government claims is connected to illegal activity – may be subject to civil forfeiture even without criminal charges. You can lose your belongings without ever being convicted of anything.

What “Scope” Means and Why It Matters

A search warrant must specify the places to be searched and the items to be seized. This isnt optional – its the Fourth Amendment. Agents cant get a warrant to search for a large safe and then start going through desk drawers and seizing documents. Thats a scope violation. Evidence obtained outside the warrants scope should be suppressed.

In practice, scope violations happen regularely. Agents get aggressive. They interpret the warrant broadly. They seize things that “might be relevant” even if the warrant dosent specifically authorize it. Your only protection is watching the search (if allowed), documenting what happens, and challenging violations later in court. By then, prosecutors have already seen everything. The suppression motion might succeed, but they already know what you have.

Heres an example that shows how scope works. Warrant authorizes seizure of “financial records related to ABC Corporation.” Agents find a thumb drive labeled “personal photos” and take it anyway. At the FBI lab, they search the drive and find incriminating business documents mislabeled as photos. Can they use those documents? Maybe. Courts differ on wheather the “plain view” doctrine applies to mislabeled electronic files. But the point is: they have the documents. The legal battle is uphill from there.

The Taint Team Reviewing Your Privileged Documents

When FBI agents seize documents that include attorney-client privileged materials, a seperate “taint team” or “clean team” reviews them. These are attorneys and investigators walled off from the main investigation. There job is to identify privileged material and ensure it dosent reach the prosecutors working your case. In the Mar-a-Lago search, 520 pages were flagged for privilege review out of over 13,000 documents seized.

Heres the uncomfortable reality: privileged documents get seized first, then reviewed for protection. The FBI dosent leave your lawyers letters behind during the search. They take everything, then sort it out later. During that sorting, FBI attorneys are reading your privileged communications. There supposed to be firewalled from the case team, but there still government employees working on your investigation. The protection is procedural, not absolute.

Michael Cohens 2018 raid sparked a national conversation about attorney-client priviledge during FBI searches. Cohens attorney called it an “unnecesary seizure of protected attorney client communications.” The FBI responded that taint team procedures were followed. But the privilege review happend after seizure – meaning FBI attorneys read privileged materials to determine they were privileged. The system works backwards from what most people expect.

The Crime You Commit By Talking

18 USC 1001 makes it a federal crime to make false statements to federal agents. But heres the trap: the FBI dosent record interviews. So “false statement” means your statement differs from what agents wrote in there 302. If you say something ambiguous, and the agent writes it down in a way that contradicts other evidence, you’ve now made a “false statement.” If your memory at 6am differs from documents the FBI already has, you’ve made a “false statement.” The crime exists in the gap between your words and there notes.

Martha Stewart didnt go to prison for insider trading. She went to prison for lying to federal agents about trades that prosecutors couldnt prove were illegal. The underlying conduct wasnt criminal. Her statements about the conduct became the crime. This pattern repeats constantly. The investigation finds no chargeable offense, but the interview produces a 1001 violation. You create the crime by talking.

What Happens When You’re Not Home During the Raid

The FBI dosent wait for you. If your not home when agents arrive with a valid warrant, they can enter anyway. Theres no requirement that you be present. They will search your property, seize what the warrant authorizes, and leave a receipt listing what they took. You come home to find your door broken in, your belongings scattered, and a piece of paper explaining what happend. Welcome to the federal investigation your just finding out about.

This creates a seperate problem: you cant watch the search. Everything that happened while your gone is documented only by the agents doing the searching. If they exceeded the warrants scope, you have no way to prove it. If they damaged property unnecesarily, your word against theres. If they questioned family members present, those statements went into a 302 with no attorney present. The raid happend while you were at work, at the gym, at a doctors appointment. By the time you find out, its over.

Prosecutors sometimes prefer it this way. A target who isnt present cant invoke there rights. Cant watch the search. Cant document scope violations. The surprise isnt just about catching you off-guard – its about controlling the narrative without witnesses. If your lawyer advises that a raid is likely, consider having someone you trust present at your home or business during vulnerable hours. Not to interfere with the search. Just to observe and document.

The No-Knock Exception: When They Dont Have to Announce

Standard search warrants require agents to knock and announce themselves before entry. 18 USC 3109 says they must give notice of there authority and purpose. Thats the law. But the law has exceptions. If agents have reason to beleive that knocking would be dangerous, allow evidence to be destroyed, or permit a suspect to escape, they can request a no-knock provision. The judge signs it. The agents come through your door without warning.

Even without a no-knock provision, exigent circumstances can eliminate the announcement requirement on scene. If agents knock and hear sounds suggesting evidence destruction – a toilet flushing, paper shredding, files being deleted – they can enter immediatly. The standard is reasonable belief, not certainty. What constitutes “sounds of destruction” is decided later by a judge reviewing after-the-fact testimony from the agents who broke down your door. The agents make the call in the moment. The court reviews it months later.

Breonna Taylor was killed during a no-knock warrant execution in March 2020. Officers entered her apartment without announcement around 1am. Her boyfriend, beleiving they were intruders, fired a warning shot. Officers returned fire, killing Taylor. No drugs were found in the apartment. The target of the investigation – an ex-boyfriend – was already in police custody when the raid began. The system worked exactly as it was designed to work. The design is the problem.

Three Things to Do When FBI Agents Arrive

First, ask to see the warrant and read it carefully. The warrant must describe the specific place to be searched and the specific items to be seized. If theyre at the wrong address, or the warrant dosent cover what there trying to search, say so clearly. Document any discrepencies. Take photos of the warrant if possible.

Second, state clearly that you do not consent to the search and that you want to speak with an attorney. Say it once, calmly, then stop talking. Dont argue. Dont explain. Dont try to be helpful. Every word you say goes into that 302 report. Your goal is to minimize the contents of that report to your name, the date, and “defendant invoked right to counsel.”

Third, do not physically interfere with the search. Even if you beleive the warrant is invalid, even if agents are exceeding its scope, do not obstruct. Obstruction is a seperate crime. Your remedy for an illegal search is a suppression motion later, not a confrontation now. Step aside, document everything, and contact your attorney the moment agents leave.

The FBI raid isnt designed to be fair. Its designed to produce evidence – through the search and through your statements. Your rights exist, but there designed to be difficult to exercise at 6am when your half-awake and surrounded by armed agents. The only protection is knowing in advance what to do and doing it automaticly. Say the words. Stop talking. Call a lawyer. Everything else is damage control.