August 10, 2022 Washington DC – Former US President Donald Trump’s house at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida was raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for classified documents they claim President Trump had taken with him when he left the office in January 2021.
The news of the raid was announced by Trump himself on his social media platform ‘Truth Social’. He issued the following statement on Monday evening (August 8th) confirming that FBI agents had arrived at his Mar-a-Lago Resort to execute a search warrant. He said that the raid was unannounced and inappropriate called the raid a which hunt. “My beautiful home, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents, they even broke into my safe!…Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before. After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate. It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections.”
Based on media reports, the agents executed the search from 9.30 in the morning till 6 pm focusing on his personal quarters and offices at Mar-a-Lago. The raid, according to their claim, was conducted in relation with the ongoing investigation into Trump’s handling of presidential documents brought to Mar-a-Lago, which allegedly includes classified documents. Trump was not at the location, but was at his Trump Tower apartment complex in midtown Manhattan, New York.
The story gains significance in that in the history of the United States, no president or senior public officials who have left office have ever been raided in this manner. The news of the raid has evoked public reactions from across the political spectrum both for and against the former president. The Democrats were elated as the Republicans sought accountability from both the Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Trump appointed FBI Director Christopher Wray both of whom have not yet commented on the raid.
Former Vice-President under Trump, Mike Pence said in his tweet, “I share the deep concern of millions of Americans over the unprecedented search of the personal residence of President Trump. No former President of the United States has ever been subject to a raid of their personal residence in American history.”
Senate minority Leader Mitch McConnel (R-Kentucky) remained noticeably silent on the issue, while Kevin McCarthy (D-California) the House Minority leader who hopes to gain control of the House after the November 2022 Midterm election issued a strong warning for both Garland and Wray, Kevin McCarthy tweeted, “Attorney General I’ve seen enough. The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of politicization. When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned. Attorney General Garland, preserve your documents and clear your calendar. “
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday “the unprecedented search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida compound by the FBI showed the law applies equally to everyone. I don’t really have too much to say except that to have a visit like that you need a warrant. To have a warrant, you need justification. No one is above the law, not even a president or a former president of the United States.’’ she said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) avoided gloating in public over the raid.
It was Eric Trump who alerted his father, former president Trump of the FBI raid. “I was the guy that got a call this morning. And I called my father and let him know that it happened. The former first son told Hannity that FBI agents conducted raid to search for any potential confidential documents Donald Trump may have in his possession at Mar-a-Lago.
“To have 30 FBI agents – actually more than that – descend on Mar-a-Lago, give absolutely, you know no notice, go through the gates, start ransacking an office, ransacking a closet,.. you know, they broke into a safe. He didn’t even have anything in the safe.”
The FBI’s Monday raid into Trump’s residence is a part of the Justice Department’s probe into Trump’s management of the classified documents.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Trump said, “Everyone was asked to leave the premises, they wanted to be left alone, without any witnesses to see what they were doing, taking or Hopefully not ‘planting.’ Why did they STRONGLY insist on having nobody watching them, everybody our? …Obama and Clinton were never ‘raided’, despite big disputes!”
The FBI confiscated 12 boxes of documents, which according to reports from the New York Post and the Washington Post included: a letter from the North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-Un, a letter from former president Barrack Obama which he wrote to Trump during the transition, a Cocktail Napkin, a Birthday Party Dinner Menu.
It is not yet revealed as to what other classified documents they were able to obtain from the raid, but Andrew Cuomo, former Democratic Governor of New York wrote in a tweet:
“DOJ must immediately explain the reason for its raid and it must be more than a search for inconsequential archives or it will be viewed as a political tactic and undermine any future credible investigation and legitimacy of January 6, investigations. .. DOJ must disclose the bonafide nature of the August 8 action or else the republicans will use it to Discredit the Jan 6 investigation, which would be a terrible disservice to the good work of the House Committee in exposing the Trump administration violations.
Former Democratic Presidential candidate Andrew Yang tweeted: “It seems like this was authorized by a loclal judge and a particular FBI office without buy-in notification of higher levels of government. But literally, no one will believe that or make a distinction. It’s probably, bureaucratic but it seems political… If they raided his home just to find classified documents he took from The White House, one legal expert noted, he will be re-elected president in 2024, hands down. It will prove to be the greatest law enforcement mistake in history… I’m no Trump fan. I want him as far away from the White House as possible. But a fundamental part of his appeal has been that it’s him against a corrupt government establishment. This raid strengthens that case for millions of Americans who will see this as unjust persecution.”
In a show of solidarity with the former president Trump, many supporters gathered at Mar-a-Lago wearing MAGA hats, waving the US flags and Trump flags. They alleged, that the DOJ is trying to prevent Trump from running for office again. They objected to the raid happening while Trump was not even on the premises.
This raid has galvanized support for Trump among the Republican caucuses and more people are coming out against the raid demanding that people have to be held accountable for this unprecedented action against a former president.
