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- Some Trump allies are urging the former president to release surveillance footage from the Mar-a-Lago raid.
- CNN reported that people in Trump's orbit think the visuals could help drum up support.
- But others have reportedly warned that making the footage public could do more harm than good.
Former President Donald Trump is considering making public some of the surveillance footage of the FBI executing a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago resort earlier this month in hopes of using it to fire up his political base, according to CNN.
Some of Trump's allies are pushing the former president to release CCTV footage from the raid, the outlet reported, suggesting that the images could be used in campaign-style advertisements to further Trump's political persecution narrative ahead of a possible 2024 campaign.
Trump has already used the incident to his advantage: He's raised up to $1 million a day in donations, soliciting his supporters through a flurry of emails denouncing the search.
The recommendation to release the footage, however, has elicited varied responses within his circle, according to CNN.
A person close to Trump told the outlet that the surveillance footage in question has been so tightly guarded by Trump's aides, that it's unclear whether Trump himself has even viewed it in full yet.
"I don't think it's been shared by anyone outside of the attorneys," the source said.
A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
The FBI last week executed an unprecedented search warrant on Trump's South Florida resort and home, seizing 11 sets of classified documents, some of which were marked top secret. The raid signified the increasing legal pressure Trump faces amid a slew of ongoing investigations into the former president.
Trump sources who spoke to CNN suggested that it's not a matter of if he eventually releases the footage, but when. Others in Trump's close circle, however, are reportedly warning that releasing the tapes could bring further legal troubles for the embattled former president, or turn the tides of support against him.
"It's one thing to read a bunch of numbers on an inventory list, it's another to see law enforcement agents actually carrying a dozen-plus boxes out of President Trump's home knowing they probably contain sensitive documents. I don't see how that helps him," a person close to Trump told CNN.
Trump announced earlier this month that he and his attorneys recorded the search even though federal agents had asked them to turn off the security cameras.
The Department of Justice on Monday asked the court to block all efforts to unseal the search warrant affidavit, warning that any public disclosure of information in it and related documents would "cause significant and irreparable damage" to the ongoing investigation.
Trump responded on Truth Social, calling for the "immediate release" of the affidavit related to the "horrible and shocking BREAK-IN."
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