The FBI conducted an unannounced raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort on Monday, in an escalating investigation into whether he brought classified documents from the White House. to his or her residence in Florida, according to Related press.
Trump confirmed the feeder’s search in a statement, claiming that agents had opened a safe at his home while calling it “under siege” and comparing it to “the wrongdoings of the prosecuting agency”.
“These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently besieged, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agent,” Trump wrote in his statement. “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.
After working and cooperating with relevant Government agencies, an unannounced raid on my home was unnecessary or appropriate.”
The raid is the culmination of a months-long investigation into how classified White House records went from Washington DC to Trump’s Florida estate earlier this year.
Raid forced to investigate Trump’s handling of White House records
Back in February, the National Archives asked the Justice Department to investigate Trump’s handling of the White House records, claiming that some of the documents he returned to them had been torn and glued together, follow CBS News.
A month ago, the agency retrieved classified documents found among 15 boxes of files from Trump’s Palm Beach estate.
More evidence against Trump was revealed on Monday, when New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman released photos from an upcoming book showing several instances of the former president attempting to flush documents down. toilet.
Trump went on to call Monday’s attack “weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024. .”
Republicans rally behind Trump as midterms heat up
Republicans have since spoken out in defense of the former president, with GOP National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel calling the attack “outrageous” and adding it was just another reason for voters. Vote for the midterm elections in November.
NEW: These are photos obtained by the NY Times’ Maggie Haberman from a White House source that show documents with Trump’s handwriting – in two different restrooms. Trump is said to have flushed both sets of documents repeatedly. This contradicts his repeated denials. pic.twitter.com/fn1SjOFxDW
– Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) August 8, 2022
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who like Trump is considering running for president of his own in 2024, tweeted that the search was “an escalation in the weaponization” of US government agencies. Ky.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy accused the Justice Department of “reaching an intolerable state of weaponization of politicization” and tweeted that Republicans would investigate the agency if they win. took control of the House of Representatives in November.
Meanwhile, a separate, grand jury investigation into Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election continues as the former president The system is aiming for another election in 2024.
Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson declined to comment on the raid.
