FBI Special Agent Johnathan Buma had his Orange County home raided by federal agents on Monday. Buma, who testified before Congress, claimed that the bureau had forced him to stop investigating Rudy Giuliani. However, documents suggest that Buma is under suspicion for mishandling classified information, an accusation that his attorney vehemently denies.
According to Scott Horton, Buma’s attorney, a team of federal agents wearing tactical gear executed a search warrant at Buma’s residence. A review of the search warrant revealed that Buma is suspected of violating laws related to mishandling classified information. The property receipt listed the seizure of items such as “classified material” and “possible classified material.” Horton refuted these allegations and stated that no classified information was found during the raid, as confirmed by his client.
When contacted for comment, the FBI did not provide an immediate response to the request filed on Tuesday, the day after the search.
In July, Buma submitted protected whistleblower disclosures to the Senate Judiciary Committee, alleging mismanagement and retaliation within the bureau. His 22-page disclosure detailed how he was instructed not to investigate associates of Donald Trump and was coerced into shutting down his confidential sources. Furthermore, Buma’s disclosures highlighted evidence suggesting that Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, had been compromised by a Russian intelligence asset.
Following the leak of his Senate disclosure, Buma, a seasoned FBI veteran specializing in counter-intelligence investigations, discussed his allegations in interviews with the New Yorker and Business Insider.
Recently, one of Buma’s sources, Charles Johnson, revealed that he had recruited Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel as an FBI confidential human source with the codename “Philosopher.” Both Business Insider and The Atlantic confirmed Thiel’s role as an FBI informant, along with details of his reporting to the bureau regarding Kremlin approaches.
Buma’s attorney, Horton, claimed that the raid on Monday was an act of retaliation against his client for blowing the whistle. Horton criticized the deployment of an excessive number of personnel, typically reserved for high-profile mafia cases, for a single FBI agent suspected of cooperating with a congressional investigation. He expressed concerns about the impact of such political interference on the bureau’s counter-intelligence activities targeting Russian intelligence services.
Furthermore, Horton highlighted the larger issue of the bureau’s treatment of whistleblowers, stating that federal law strictly protects those who cooperate with Congress and file whistleblower complaints. He criticized senior management within the bureau, suggesting that they believe they are exempt from this legal protection.
Property receipts obtained by Business Insider revealed that numerous documents and electronic devices were seized during the raid at Buma’s residence. Among the items confiscated were nine laptops, three smartwatches, six tablets, two phones, and one desktop computer. Horton clarified that most of these devices belonged to Buma’s family, intended for his wife’s work and their children’s education.
Horton also mentioned that Buma was on medical leave from the bureau at the time of the raid. Prior to the search, Buma had already surrendered his gun, badge, bureau car, and bureau phone during a meeting with his supervisor earlier that Monday.
