FBI agents arrested actress Felicity Huffman early Tuesday morning at her Los Angeles, California home. The agents allegedly had their weapons drawn while arresting the 56-year-old actress for alleged fraud relating to her daughter’s college admissions, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.
The Times reported that “a source familiar with the incident” claims Huffman opened her door to FBI agents ready to arrest her with guns drawn. She was handcuffed and taken into federal custody, where she remained for several hours and was then released on $250,000 bail.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller told the Times that “a tactical team” was not used to arrest Huffman, “But all FBI agents are armed and may draw their weapons as a precautionary measured based on the circumstances during the execution of any warrant.”
If the source is correct, and at least some of the FBI agents there to arrest Huffman had drawn their guns, what was the “precautionary measure based on the circumstances” that required such force to be used on a middle-aged actress?
The FBI also used what seemed like unnecessary force to arrest 66-year-old former Trump associate Roger Stone. Like Huffman, Stone was not charged with any violent crime. He was charged with making false statements, witness tampering, and obstruction. CNN at the time reported “that the FBI only takes such dramatic actions if they believe the suspect is a flight risk or has information at the residence that could be important to the case.”
The Times reported that “a source” told them Huffman and others charged in the college admissions scandal were aware days earlier that they might be arrested. If that’s true, the flight risk argument goes out the window, and any evidence she may have had at her home could have been destroyed already, meaning there would be no need to draw weapons on a mother of two.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, Huffman and nearly 50 other people, including fellow actress Lori Loughlin and many high-profile CEOs, were charged for allegedly bribing officials at various colleges and cheating on entrance exams to get their kids into the schools.
Code-named “Operation Varsity Blues,” the investigation found that 33 parents paid admissions counselor William Singer a total of $25 million to get their kids into college. Singer used the money to bribe officials at various schools, including Georgetown, Stanford, UCLA, USC, the University of San Diego, the University of Texas, Wake Forest, and Yale.
Singer also collected money to pay other people to take the SATs and ACTs for the children of his clients. Huffman’s oldest daughter originally took the SAT and scored around 1000 points. On her second test, allegedly taken by her in December 2017, she had a miraculous improvement of 400 points, scoring a 1420, according to the Times.
“In October 2018, Huffman was recorded by the FBI discussing participating in the same scheme for her younger daughter; however, she did not ultimately pursue it,” the Times reported.
Huffman is best known for her role as Lynette Scavo on “Desperate Housewives.” Her husband, actor William H. Macy, attended her first court hearing regarding the charges against her.