The FBI went to Donald Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, and broke into his safe, the former president said Monday. In a post on his social media site Truth Social, Trump said that his house had been “raided and occupied” and that it was “currently under siege.”
FBI agents reportedly looked for classified papers that Trump brought from the White House to Mar-a-Lago after he left office. If this is true, it could be a violation of federal law. The National Archives and Records Administration said earlier this year that it had found classified information in 15 boxes at the house and had told the FBI about it.
Monday, the agents used a search warrant to look for more presidential records that Trump may have moved to his estate in Florida.
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Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.”
“After working with the right government agencies and helping them out, this unannounced raid on my home was neither necessary nor right.”
The raid is happening at the same time that the Justice Department is looking into Trump’s actions as part of a criminal investigation into attempts to change the results of the 2020 presidential election.
This investigation is not related to the department’s investigation into how he handled classified information.
Federal law makes it illegal to take classified documents to places where they shouldn’t be, but Trump could try to argue that, as president, he was the only person who could declassify documents. There are a number of laws that cover classified information. For example, it is against the law to take such records and keep them in an unauthorized place, which is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Under another law, it is a crime to either intentionally or very carelessly mess up classified records. Trump has also been accused of trying to get rid of records from the White House.
The Wall Street Journal says that the National Archives said that some of the records they got back from the former president had been torn up.
Photos from Axios show torn White House papers in the bottom of a toilet, but a spokesperson for Trump denied that he tried to flush the papers down the toilet.
Trump said that the raid was done because Democrats don’t want him to run for office again in 2024
“It is prosecutorial misconduct, the use of the justice system as a weapon, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024,” he wrote.
Trump said that the FBI search was like “an attack that could only happen in broken, Third-World countries” and that it was also like the Watergate scandal.
The former Republican president said that a “large group” of FBI agents even broke into his safe. “The lawlessness, political persecution, and Witch Hunts must be exposed and stopped.”
A person who was at Mar-a-Lago when the FBI raid happened told The Post that it was “like the scene from a ‘Die Hard movie.” Monday morning, armored cars sped up to the Palm Beach resort, and “at least 100” FBI agents rushed into Trump’s home.
“It came as a complete surprise,” the source said. “Most of the place was closed today, so the only people there were Trump’s close friends.
“Everyone on the staff was terrified.”
Most sources say that the former president was at Trump Tower in New York at the time of the raid.
Dena Iverson, a spokesperson for the Justice Department, wouldn’t say anything about the search, including whether Attorney General Merrick Garland had personally given permission for it.
Even though Trump might have broken the law, many GOP lawmakers are standing with him to criticize the Justice Department and FBI’s unannounced search.
Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the minority party in the House, said in a statement, “I’ve seen enough.” “The Department of Justice has become too politicized and has used weapons to do it.”
He said that if Republicans win back the House, he would “immediately oversee” the department and “turn over every stone.”
“Attorney General Garland, keep your papers safe and clear your schedule.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said that the Justice Department and FBI are like an authoritarian government. He used the Hunter Biden investigation as an example.
“The raid of MAL is another step up in the use of federal agencies as weapons against the Regime’s political opponents, while people like Hunter Biden are treated with kid gloves,” tweeted DeSantis.
“Now the Regime has another 87,000 IRS agents to use against its enemies? The Banana Republic.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert, who is on the right, also criticized the FBI. She said that the GOP should set up a “Select Committee” to look into the “politically-motivated” raid.
She tweeted, “The #DepartmentOfInjustice has been turned into a weapon against the American people.” “This is something we’ve known for a while, but they’re not trying to hide it anymore.”
In an appearance on “Hannity,” Trump’s son Eric Trump criticized the quick search.
Stay tuned for more updates, Nog Magazine.