Bruce Reinhart, a magistrate Judge in the United States, approved the FBI’s request to search former US President Donald Trump‘s Florida residence. Mar-a-Lago, located in Plam Springs, was raided by FBI officials earlier this week.

Law enforcement officials searched Trump’s residence for sensitive and confidential documents that may have been taken by him from the White House. The FBI was following up on an investigation request from the National Archives.

Also Read: FBI director denounces threats following search of Donald Trump’s home

Who is Bruce Reinhart?

Bruce Reinhart, who is in his 50s, is a graduate of Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania. He has previously worked for two federal bodies: The Treasury Department and the Department of Justice’s public integrity vertical.

After spending more than a decade as a US Attorney, Bruce Reinhart quit his job in January 2008. Newsweek reported that he started working as a defense attorney for employees of Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.

In 2011, Bruce Reinhart was criticised for defending Epstein employees as he was previously an employee of the Justice Department. Reinhart said he did not work on the Epstein case during his time at the Justice Department, according to The Miami Herald.

Bruce Reinhart has also been an active donor to a variety of state and national political campaigns. He donated $1,000 to Barack Obama‘s presidential campaign in 2008. He gave another $1,000 to the Obama Victory Fund, Newsweek reported.

Also Read: Mar-a-Lago search: How FBI gets warrant to search a home

Jeb Bush, a Republican, received a $500 donation from Reinhart. Bush, the former Florida governor, later lost the Republican primary for the 2020 presidential nomination.

According to AP reports, federal authorities seeking a search warrant present their evidence to a magistrate or a district court judge. The judge will only sign off on the warrant if there is probable cause there’s evidence of a federal crime at the location authorities want to search.