Newsman: Former President Donald Trump said Monday that the FBI had “raided” his home at Mar-a-Lago in Florida and even cracked his safe. Trump claimed in a written statement that the search — unprecedented in American history —was politically motivated, although he did not provide specifics.
“These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump said in a lengthy email statement issued by his Save America political committee.
“After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,” Trump said before bemoaning: “They even broke into my safe!”
The search was tied to classified information Trump allegedly took with him from the White House to his Palm Beach resort in January 2021.
The younger Trump said he got a call about the search being executed on Monday morning and informed his father.
The search, which would have required a court order from a federal judge, signals the former president is under greater scrutiny from federal investigators than was previously known.
Just hours before agents searched Trump’s residence, the FBI notified the Secret Service about the bureau’s plans to execute the warrant. The Secret Service facilitated access to the property, the official said, but did not participate in any aspect of the search.
Trump lawyer Christina Bobb, who said she was present for Monday’s search, told that Trump and his team have been “cooperative with FBI and DOJ officials every step of the way,” while adding that the bureau “did conduct an unannounced raid and seized paper.”
Dozens of vehicles, many adorned with “Trump 2020” and U.S. flags, were parked outside Mar-a-Lago on Monday night in an apparent show of support for the former president.
Meanwhile, Republicans rallied around their party’s de facto leader, who is weighing another run for president.
“The @FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago is incredibly concerning, especially given the Biden admin’s history of going after parents & other political opponents. This is 3rd World country stuff,” Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who leads the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, said on Twitter.
“We need answers NOW,” Scott added, summing up the mood of many Republicans. “The FBI must explain what they were doing today & why.”
Trump this year had to return 15 boxes of documents that were improperly taken from the White House, the National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, said in February.
“In mid-January 2022, NARA arranged for the transport from the Trump Mar-a-Lago property in Florida to the National Archives of 15 boxes that contained Presidential records, following discussions with President Trump’s representatives in 2021,” the National Archives said in a statement Feb. 7.
The same month, the National Archives and Records Administration asked the Justice Department to examine whether Trump’s handling of White House records violated federal law, a story first reported by The Washington Post and subsequently confirmed by NBC News sources.
The New York Times on Monday first reported the FBI focus on the National Archives materials.
Trump is not at Mar-a-Lago, his winter residence. He often spends his summers at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey.
The FBI search came days after Attorney General Merrick Garland told NBC News that the “most wide-ranging investigation” in Justice Department history was examining not only the rioters who invaded the Capitol and physically attacked officers, but also whether anyone was “criminally responsible for interfering with the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to another.”
“All of a sudden, 30 agents descend upon Mar-a-Lago,” Trump’s son Eric told Fox News. “You know who this came from — this came from one place and one building, and that is the White House in Washington, D.C. They want to attack a guy who they view is the greatest threat — is Biden’s greatest threat. And that is exactly what Donald J. Trump is.”
