The FBI executed a search warrant on Monday at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to investigate the handling of presidential documents.
According to CNN, the investigation includes confidential documents that three people familiar with the situation believe could have been brought to the area.
Trump confirms FBI presence
The former US president’s social media confirmed that “a large group” of federal agents broke into his Florida residence in an “unannounced raid”.
Trump also said, “They even broke into my safe.”
“My beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” he said in a statement.
“These are dark times for our nation. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.”
Trump was not present when officers arrived and were seen exiting Trump Tower in New York.
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The Department of Justice
The decision to raid the home of a former president raises the stakes for the Department of Justice.
The crackdown also marks the start of Trump’s legal troubles, which are piling up on multiple fronts.
Trump is expected to announce that he will submit another bid for the 2024 White House in a few months.
It is now known that the Department of Justice has two active investigations related to the former president: one into the attempted cancellation of the 2020 and January 6, 2021 presidential elections, and the other into the handling of classified documents.
The search
The FBI raid began early Monday morning, with law enforcement focused on searching Trump’s offices and personal quarters.
The search examined where the documents were kept and where the boxes containing the objects were.
The FBI must have verified on Monday that nothing had been forgotten.
Eric Trump, the former president’s son, told Fox host Sean Hannity that the raid was carried out “because the National Archives wanted to, you know, corroborate whether or not Donald Trump had any documents in his possession.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s attorney Christina Bobb said the FBI seized the documents.
“President Trump and his legal team have been cooperative with FBI and DOJ officials every step of the way,” said Bobb.
“The FBI did conduct an unannounced raid and seized paper.”
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Trump supporters talk about the situation
The search posts sparked a backlash from Trump supporters as a group gathered outside Mar-A-Lago to wave flags and express their anger.
Kevin McCarthy, Republican Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, said:
“I’ve seen enough. The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization.”
Florida Senator Marco Rubio took to Twitter to comment.
“Using government power to persecute political opponents is something we have seen many times from 3rd world Marxist dictatorships,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump said he had cooperated with all relevant government agencies and said the raid on his home was “not necessary or appropriate”.
The former president said it was “prosecutorial misconduct,” adding that the “weaponization of the justice system” is meant to prevent him from running for the White House again.
“Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World countries,” said Trump.
“Sadly, America has not become one of those countries, corrupt at a level not seen before. They even broke into my safe.”
References:
FBI executes search warrant at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago in document investigation
Donald Trump says FBI agents raided his Mar-A-Lago Florida home
